After malaria outbreak in Bareilly division, the threat of zika virus looms large over the region as the disease is spread through mosquito bite. Uttar Pradesh government has issued an alert after a few zika virus cases were reported in Rajasthan.

Zika virus disease is primarily transmitted through Aedes mosquito, which bite during the day. The bite of an Aedes mosquito also causes dengue and chikungunya. As the Aedes mosquito is widely prevalent in the state, the risk of zika cannot be ruled out. Pregnant women are particularly at high risk as the virus can be transmitted to the fetus and result in birth defects in the baby.

The incubation period of zika virus disease is three to 14 days. Officials said the symptoms of the zika virus disease are fever, rash, muscle and joint pain, malaise and non-purulent conjunctivitis or conjunctival hyperaemia. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), a total of 86 countries and territories have reported evidence of mosquito-transmitted zika infection.

Health experts said the disease is confirmed through blood tests on RT-PCR which is the only standard kit in India for it. Officials said the testing facility is currently available in KGMU, Lucknow.

Dr Vineet Shukla, chief medical officer, said, “Following the outbreak of malaria in Bareilly, we have reserved beds with mosquito nets in hospitals for patients with vector-borne diseases. If any case of zika virus is reported, the patient will be kept in reserved beds. Ten beds have been reserved at the district hospital while five beds have been reserved in each community health centre and primary health centre. No special doctor is required for treating a person infected with zika virus. A patient is treated for fever and pain. However, it is advised that the patient should drink excess water and take proper rest.”

Officials in Bareilly division said they have been taking all necessary steps to deal with vector-borne diseases following the outbreak of malaria to curb breeding of mosquitoes. “We have been conducting fogging and indoor pyrethrum spraying and outdoor larvicidal spraying to contain mosquito breeding. Besides, we have been educating people to not let stagnant water accumulate in their neighbourhood and our teams have been issuing notice to people flouting it during random checking,” said the CMO.

According to health department sources, larvicidal spraying has been done in 2,409 villages of Bareilly, 197 villages of Badaun, 998 villages of Pilibhit and 142 villages of Shahjahanpur till now. Fogging exercise has been carried out in 832 villages of Bareilly division while indoor pyrethrum spraying has been conducted at 212 villages of Bareilly division.

The division has so far reported 15,543 cases of plasmodium falciparum (PF) malaria and 23,127 cases of plasmodium vivax (PV) malaria. Of the total PF cases, the highest has been reported from Bareilly with 12,263 and Badaun accounts for 3,184 cases. Similarly, out of total PV cases, the highest number was detected in Bareilly with 18,979.

Source: TOI