On Saturday night, Maharashtra announced that it had reported its first-ever Zika virus case, with a 50-year-old woman from Pune’s Belsar village testing positive. The woman, however, has fully recovered from the infection, according to the state health department, and her family members have shown no signs of the disease.
The woman’s samples were sent to Pune’s National Institute of Virology (NIV) for testing in July, according to the state health department. She was also infected with Chikungunya.
‘The woman had symptoms from July 15 and her sample tested positive for Zika virus and chikungunya infection on July 30,’ Indian Express quoted Maharashtra’s Surveillance Officer Dr Pradeep Awate as saying.
Though officials have urged people not to panic, those who are experiencing symptoms such as fever, conjunctivitis, rashes, or body aches should be tested for the Zika virus, which is spread by the aedes aegypti mosquito. They have also advised pregnant women to exercise greater caution.
Earlier this year, Kerala reported its first case of Zika virus in India. So far, the southern state has reported 63 Zika virus cases, out of which three are active cases.
Post Your Comments