Centre rushes high-level team to Maharashtra to support state in effective public health interventions for Zika

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday decided to depute a high-level multidisciplinary team to Maharastra after the state reported its first Zika virus case in Pune.

The three-member team will collaborate with the State Health Department in instituting effective health measures for Zika virus management.

According to a release by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Centre team will take a stock of the situation on the ground and implement the Union Health Ministry's Action Plan for Zika Management.

The Central government will recommend necessary public health interventions for the management of Zika in the state.

The three-member team consists of a public health expert from the office of Regional Director, Pune and a gynecologist from Lady Hardinge Medical College, and an entomologist from National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR), ICMR, read the release.

On August 2, Maharashtra has reported its first Zika virus infection at a village in Pune.

The first case of Zika Virus has been reported from Belsar village in Pune. The infection in the patient is mild and no other member of his family has developed any symptoms of the infection, said Dr Pradip Awate, Maharastra's Surveillance Officer in an interview with ANI.

Caused by a virus transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes, which bite during the day, symptoms of this disease are mild fever, rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise or a headache.

( With inputs from ANI )