Zika Virus Alert: First Case Of Zika Reported In Tamil Nadu

On 15 May 2017, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare-Government of India reported three laboratory-confirmed cases of Zika virus disease in the Bapunagar area in the Ahmedabad district of Gujarat. Hardly anyone outside the government knew about the three cases until last week, before the World Health Organization announced that it had received reports about them from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. On 28th May state government officials finally spoke with reporters, stating that there were no more confirmed cases beyond those three.

On June 26, a 28-year-old tailor in Natranpalayam Panchayat, arrived at the Anchetty primary health centre with basic symptoms of a vector borne disease. The tests for dengue, chikungunya, malaria, leptospirosis and scrub typhus came back negative. The next day his blood, throat and urine samples were examined at the Manipal Centre for Virus Research who did an RT-PCR test for Zika and found it to be positive. Further tests at the National Institute of Virology, Pune, too found the urine sample positive for Zika.

"There were traces of the virus only in the urine sample, the disease is here. There is no point in keeping it a secret," Dr Radhakrishnan said at a press conference on Monday. "We want doctors to keep their eyes open to this disease." The health officials chose to go public with the discovery to create more awareness about the virus.

The patient has recovered completely, said Dr Radhakrishnan, who visited the man at his residence over the weekend with health officials. "We undertook vector control measures in the area," he said. Samples from other patients in the area with fever were sent to the King Institute of Preventive Medicine, Guindy, where they tested negative. The state has increased the surveillance for the disease with regular checks at airports daily reviews of the hospitals. Over 40,000 suspected cases of Zika have been tested in the country, she said. Director of Public Health K. Kolandaisamy said approximately 200 cases had been tested at the King Institute so far in T.N., showing the effective implementation of surveillance for the disease.

Also read  Here's how you can protect yourself from Zika virus.