As Kerala records 63 cases of the Zika virus, Maharashtra has become the second state to record a fresh case of Zika virus after a 50-year-old woman from Purandar tehsil in Pune district tested positive. The patient had also tested positive for Chikungunya.
The Health Department claims that Belsar village had reported several cases of fever and a total of five samples were sent for testing at the beginning of July to the National Institute Of Virology (NIV), Pune, of which three came back positive for Chikungunya. After that, several teams of NIV visited Belsar and Parinche villages collecting blood samples of people. Out of 41 samples, 25 tested positive for Chikungunya and three for Dengue and one for Zika virus.
As per the health department, the woman has been admitted to a primary health center in Belsar and is doing fine. None of her family members have contracted the virus and are showing no symptoms.
After the positive case was reported, the state was quick to take action and began an awareness drive in the area and spoke to residents about the virus and its consequences. A door-to-door survey was also conducted in the village area by the health department.
Symptoms for the Zika virus can last for 2-7 days and its symptoms are fever, body aches, rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise or headache.