16 fresh cases were recorded on Tuesday in Kanpur, the total number of Zika virus cases has reached 106 in Uttar Pradesh. Those freshly infected with the virus include seven women and nine men.
Two of the women are in an advanced state of pregnancy and are admitted to a hospital in Kanpur’s Chakeri, a hotbed of Zika infection. One patient was tested positive from the Kannauj district.
According to Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Nepal Singh, the doctors conducted an ultrasound of the pregnant women and found that their babies were in healthy condition.
A hundred teams have been deployed in the Kanpur city for source reduction, 100 teams for home sampling, 50 teams for sampling and additional 15 rapid response teams (RRT) to check the spread of Zika virus,” Dr. Nepal Singh, Chief Medical Officer, Kanpur City.
Teams have been deployed for various tasks including surveying nearby areas and sampling of symptomatic people, said Dr. Nepal Singh. He also said that the teams have been monitoring friends and relatives of infected patients for any possible infection.
The Health Department and Municipal Corporation of Kanpur is spreading awareness across the city including in Zika-affected areas such as Shyam Nagar, Koyla Nagar, Chakeri, Jagmau, and Air Force colonies.
Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that spreads through the bite of an infected Aedes species of mosquito, which bites during the day. Symptoms of this disease are mild fever, rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise, or a headache.