Woman tests positive for Zika virus in Gujarat

A woman admitted to a civil hospital here has tested positive for the mosquito-borne Zika virus infection, a senior official said Friday.

The woman, resident of Bhavnagar city in Gujarat, has since recovered, said Ahmedabad municipal commissioner Vijay Nehra.

She was admitted to the hospital on October 22 for gynaecological issues, Nehra said.

"As she had a mild fever as well, doctors took her blood samples to check if she had dengue or malaria. But she tested negative. Then as a precautionary measure her samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for a test for Zika virus," he said.

"Today NIV has confirmed that she was infected with Zika virus. But the woman has already recovered and has been discharged," he added.

As it was a suspected Zika case, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) started a massive drive to stop possible spread of the virus, he said.

An outbreak of Zika virus was reported in neighbouring Rajasthan earlier this month.

Nehra and Gujarat Commissioner of Health Jayanthi Ravi briefed the media in Gandhinagar later Friday.

Ravi said there was no need to panic as the situation was under control due to the proactive steps taken by the administration.

"Zika virus spreads through mosquito bites. The mosquitoes which carry dengue and chikungunya virus also carry Zika virus. So the best way to stop its spread is to control the mosquitoes," Ravi said.

She added that since there is no specific medicine for Zika, patients can take paracetamol.

Nehra said after the Bhavnagar woman's samples were taken on October 22, the AMC swung into action immediately.

"We did not wait for the woman's results, which came only today. As we considered it a suspected case of Zika, we formed 390 teams and have screened over 7.33 lakh people since October 22. Intense fogging was carried out to control the mosquito menace in the city," he said.

The virus can affect the health of unborn child if a pregnant woman gets the infection, he said.

"Therefore we screened over 5,000 women and took blood samples of 257 women to check if they have Zika infection. Results of 135 women have come....the good thing is these 135 samples have tested negative," the commissioner said.