The number of people infected with the Zika virus in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur rose to 66 after 30 more people tested positive for the infection, according to a report on Friday. The city saw its first Zika virus case on October 23 after an officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF) tested positive.
Thirty more people have tested positive for Zika virus in Kanpur,” news agency
quoted district magistrate Vishak G Ayyar as saying on Friday.
The samples from various areas nearby the IAF station hangars, where the first case was detected, were sent for testing to the King George’s Medical University (KGMU) in Lucknow and 30 of them came back positive, the official added. However, there was no mention of the number of samples collected.
Of the 66 people infected so far, 45 are men and 21 women, according to the report. Further, to tackle the transmission of the disease, sanitisation programmes including anti-larvae spraying, identifying fever patients and screening for seriously ill people and pregnant women are being undertaken, the report also showed.
“We advise the local people not to panic regarding the sudden spurt in Zika virus cases,” Ayyar also said.
He also noted that the Zika virus is mosquito-borne and getting rid of the insects was the safe way out of the disease. While state health officials have been directed to increase surveillance and ensure door-to-door sampling and testing for the disease, the areas around the hangars of the IAF stations have also been kept under high alert.
On Wednesday, 25 people tested positive for the disease and the tally stood at 36, news agency reported citing Kanpur’s chief medical officer Dr Nepal Singh. “The health department is testing and sampling 400 to 500 people for the Zika virus while door-to-door sampling is also underway,” he said that day.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the state health department to step up activities in the control of the disease such as strict surveillance, frequent and extensive door-to-door sanitisation and fogging drives to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes.