AHMEDABAD: A recent World Health Organisation (WHO) bulletin on the Zika virus disease in India, spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, has drawn the attention of epidemiologists to the question of whether India’s Zika outbreak in Rajasthan and MP and detection in Ahmedabad and Chennai is part of a pattern of smaller localized outbreaks or the beginning of something bigger?
The bulletin points out that prior to the Rajasthan and MP outbreaks last year, there were three Zika virus cases in Ahmedabad in 2016 and 2017, the first in the sub-continent. Low levels of population immunity may therefore be expected, the bulletin states.
The WHO bulletin quotes Dr Neena Valecha, director of the National Institute for Malaria Research in New Delhi, “The situation is a matter of concern,” says Valecha, but she is hopeful that the government’s vigorous response, and increased surveillance will be sufficient to track and reduce transmission to a minimum. Zika virus’s risks of causing microcephaly in newborns will be an important focus of India’s Zika response in the coming months, the WHO bulletin states.
The bulletin points out that prior to the Rajasthan and MP outbreaks last year, there were three Zika virus cases in Ahmedabad in 2016 and 2017, the first in the sub-continent. Low levels of population immunity may therefore be expected, the bulletin states.The WHO bulletin quotes Dr Neena Valecha, director of the National Institute for Malaria Research in New Delhi, “The situation is a matter of concern,” says Valecha, but she is hopeful that the government’s vigorous response, and increased surveillance will be sufficient to track and reduce transmission to a minimum. Zika virus’s risks of causing microcephaly in newborns will be an important focus of India’s Zika response in the coming months, the WHO bulletin states.