The number of positive Zika virus cases in Jaipur, confirmed after laboratory tests, has risen to 29, officials of the state health department said, on Tuesday. 

In a joint address, the additional chief secretary of the department, Veenu Gupta, and a member of the visiting Central team, Director, Emergency Medical Relief, Union Ministry of Health, Dr P Ravindran, addressed the spread of virus in the city and laid down the precautions that can help contain the vector-borne disease.  “We have surveyed 26,000 houses in the affected area and 29,000 breeding grounds in the surveyed area were destroyed by our team,” Gupta said. She said that medical and health department officials have collected 450 samples from people with fever. More than a third of the samples belong to pregnant women who are believed to be vulnerable to the ailment. 

The first known case of Zika virus in the state was reported from the Shashtri Nagar area of Jaipur on September 21. Since then, the department has been collecting samples of suspected patients in the Shashtri Nagar area. The last count of the patients reported was 15.

A seven-member high-level central team is in Jaipur to assist the state government for control and containment measures and a control room has been activated at the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to undertake regular monitoring of the situation, according to the ministry. For proper monitoring, the department has divided the zika-affected area in the city into eight zones. Teams of medical and administrative staff have been deployed in the zones to monitor the spread of the virus, the official added. 

The government had, until now, kept mum on the outbreak. It was only after the Prime Minister’s Office sought a report on its spread that the government volunteered information on the virus.  As one of those affected in Jaipur hailed from Bihar and visited his Siwan home recently, the Bihar government also  issued advisories to its 38 districts to keep a close watch on people showing symptoms of the infection.

‘UNDER CONTROL’

Union Health Minister JP Nadda  said that  ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research), National Centre for Disease Control and DGHS (Directorate General of Health Services) are monitoring the current situation continuously. “I want to assure citizens of India that everything is under control and there is no need to panic,” he said