Kerala: 15 cases of Zika virus reported, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka become cautious

The Zika Virus cases were detected three days ago, and the new 14 confirmed cases were detected on Thursday, with one on Saturday. All the cases were reported from the Thiruvananthpuram district.

In Kerala, three days ago there were three reported cases of the Zika virus and as of today, it has climbed up to 15. The state government has made a plan to check the spread of the Zika virus disease and the Centre has sent a team of experts to the southern state as well.

After the Zika virus emerged in the southern state, Tamil Nadu has led to intensifying the checking of its borders, and tight vigilance was being maintained at the 14 check-posts at Walayar and Meenakshipuram, e-pass had been also made mandatory for the people travelling from Kerala to Tamil Nadu.

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Pinarayi Vijayan, the Chief Minister of Kerala, had said that 15 cases of the Zika Virus were reported and the government would strengthen the vector control units over the district and state level.

The Zika virus cases were detected three days ago, and the new 14 confirmed cases were detected on Thursday while one on Saturday and all the cases were reported from the Thiruvananthpuram district.

A team of experts has been sent to Kerala by the central government after the outbreak was reported. According to Lav Agarwal, the Joint Secretary of the Health Ministry, the six-membered team included vector-borne disease experts and doctors from AIIMS.

An action plan has also been formulated by the Kerala Government in order to manage the number of Zika virus infections.

Veena George, Kerala’s Health Minister on this had said that the situation was closely being monitored.

Vigilance has been increased in the districts of Karnataka which border Kerala and the health department of Karnataka had also instructed the officials to increase the vector control measures in the state. The Aedes aegypti variety of the mosquito is a vector of Dengue, Chikungunyaband Zika. The rural areas and urban areas would go on surveillance.

The travellers arriving in Karnataka would get checked for their travel history and the samples would be collected of the suspected cases and would be sent to the National Institute of Virology in Bengaluru for testing.

The symptoms of the Zika virus were fever, rashes, conjunctivitis and joint pain. The virus leads to the shrinkage of the brain in children and was a rare autoimmune disease called the Guillain-Barre syndrome.