The Centre on Monday, August 2, rushed a high-level team to Maharashtra after the state reported its first Zika virus case. The Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare rushed a multidisciplinary team to monitor the situation and support the state government in the management of Zika cases. The decision was taken after Pune district in Maharashtra recorded the state’s first case of the Zika virus infection.
The multi-disciplinary team will support the state government in checking the spread of the virus. 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 team shall work closely with the state health department, take stock of the situation on the ground and assess whether the Union health ministry’s action plan for Zika management is being implemented, a statement from the home ministry said. A 50-year-old woman from Belsar village in Purandar tehsil (Pune) was diagnosed with the Zika virus infection on July 30. Meanwhile, Pune district health officer Dr Bhagwan Pawar has said that surveillance has been increased in four to five villages within the radius of the Belsar village. This is to be noted that the Zika virus spreads mostly by the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito, which bites during the day. The same mosquito transmits other diseases like dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.
