Zika virus: Count rises to 100 in Jaipur

The number of Zika virus cases, which was 72 till Monday, has risen to 100.

A health ministry official said that the new 20 cases were reported from Jaipur and two neighbouring districts and that of the total affected people, 23 are pregnant women.

“A team of experts from ICMR has reached Jaipur to change the insecticides which are being used in the city to kill mosquitoes that spread Zika, dengue, and chikungunya viruses as a part of the integrated mosquito management programme,” The Indian Express quoted the official as saying.

Jaipur’s Shastri Nagar, Station Road area around Rajput Hostel and Vidyadhar Nagar are the infected areas.

“More than 280 teams of health department are conducting door-to-door survey and so far 96,000 houses have been surveyed. More than 2.44 lakh containers were checked and larvae were found in more than 55,000 containers, which were treated,” Hindustan Times quoted health department additional chief secretary Veenu Gupta as saying.

Gupta also said that Zikas virus infection is not fatal but pregnant women need to be cautious as there are chances of foetus being affected by the infection during the first trimester.

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Pregnant women in Jaipur have been advised to avoid travelling around the city.

Apart from the Zika virus, swine flu has also engulfed the state of Rajasthan. As many as 164 deaths were recorded that took place due to swine flu till September this year, which is the highest in the country.

According to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), as many as 4,484 positive swine flu cases surfaced across the country, out of which 1,652 cases of swine flu were recorded in Rajasthan. The number of deaths that took place in the country due to swine flu were 353.

Apart from Rajasthan, Maharashtra recorded 1,167 positive swine flu cases, out of which 101 lost their lives due to the virus. 786 cases were reported from Gujarat till September 30 this year, of which 30 people succumbed to the deadly virus.