The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has sounded alert for possible ‘Zika’ outbreak and has released guidelines on Zika virus following epidemic in Brazil and other countries of America. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has already declared ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’ on Zika outbreak.
“We have received a letter from NCDC which has been issued to other States as well, said Nodal Officer of Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) Dr Khemraj Sonwani.
NCDC has also written to Airports Authority of India (AAI) for screening all possible suspects of Zika, he informed.
As per WHO reports, Brazil reported its first case of Zika virus disease in May 2015. Since then, the disease has spread within Brazil and to 22 other countries and territories. The virus is being associated with a steep increase in the birth of babies with abnormally small heads and in cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome, a poorly understood condition in which the immune system attacks the nervous system, sometimes resulting in paralysis. A causal relationship between Zika virus infection and birth defects and neurological syndromes has not been established, but is strongly suspected.
According to the guidelines released by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Directorate General of Health Services, as of now, the disease has not been reported in India. However, the mosquito that transmits Zika virus, namely Aedes aegypti, also transmits dengue virus, is widely prevalent in India. A majority of those infected with Zika virus disease either remain asymptomatic (up to 80%) or show mild symptoms of fever, rash, conjunctivitis, body ache, joint pains. Zika virus infection should be suspected in patients reporting with acute onset of fever, maculo-papular rash and arthralgia, among those individuals who travelled to areas with ongoing transmission during the two weeks preceding the onset of illness, the guideline mentioned.