Days after a Zika virus case was reported in Pune district, the Union health ministry has rushed a multidisciplinary team to Maharahstra to monitor the virus situation and support the state government in management of the cases.
The three-member central team consists of a public health expert from the office of Regional Director, Pune; a gynecologist from Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi; and an entomologist from National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR), ICMR, New Delhi, the health ministry said in a statement.
“The team shall work closely with the State Health Department, take a stock of the situation on ground and assess whether the Union Health Ministry’s Action Plan for Zika Management is being implemented, and recommend necessary public health interventions for management of Zika in the state,” it said.
On Saturday, the state health department said that a woman patient in Pune was diagnosed with Zika virus infection—the first case reported in Maharashtra.
The 50-year-old woman, a resident of Belsar village in Purandar tehsil, received her test report on Friday. The report said that besides Zika infection, she was also infected by Chickungunya. A government medical team visited the village on Saturday and met the sarpanch and gram panchayat members and instructed them about preventive measures, the health department said.
Zika virus spreads through the bite of the aedes aegypti mosquito and most patients do not have symptoms. The typical symptoms include fever, body ache and conjunctivitis, and pregnant women should be more careful, officials said.
