The Centre for Disease Control (CDC), a US health protection agency, has relaxed its December 2018 travel advisory to India over Zika outbreak, especially for pregnant women. Earlier, the CDC had cautioned pregnant women to not travel to India as there was an ongoing outbreak in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
On Monday, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) issued an statement saying that its March rebuttal to CDC’s earlier advisory has led the international agency to say the status of Zika outbreak has changed to “current or past transmission but no current outbreak” from the earlier status given to all south Asian nations — “ongoing outbreak”.
According to the CDC website, the advisory now states, “India has reported past or current Zika virus transmission. We do not have accurate information on the current level of risk. There may be delays in detection and reporting of new outbreaks.
“Because Zika is a cause of severe birth defects, CDC recommends pregnant women and couples trying to become pregnant within the next three months work with their health care providers to carefully consider the risks and possible consequences of travel to areas with risk of Zika. If you travel, you should strictly follow steps to minimise exposure to and prevent mosquito bites.”
The ICMR adds that Zika virus strain isolated in Rajasthan matches with the one in Brazil, which saw a massive outbreak in 2016. It further clarifies that though preliminary studies done on strain in Rajasthan do suggest that the mutation causing birth defects (microcephaly) was absent there but “further characterisation of the strain is required as microcephaly has several attributable cases.
Also, the ICMR has said that a study was being rolled out in Madhya Pradesh among Zika-positive pregnant women to understand the outcomes of pregnancy and to know the occurrence of neurological complications, including microcephaly. A similar study, ICMR said, has been rolled out in Rajasthan as well.
As many as 159 cases of Zika were reported in Jaipur during October-November. In Madhya Pradesh, 130 cases were reported during the same period, whereas in Ahmedabad the number of cases were two.