Positive cases for Zika rise to 51 in Rajasthan, 60,000 households surveyed

The number of positive cases for Zika Virus rose to 51 in Jaipur's Rajasthan on Saturday.

Additional Chief Secretary for Medical and Health V Gupta said that they are taking preventive measures and have surveyed houses as per the government's guidelines. 

Gupta also confirmed the number of cases tested positive for Zika and said that entire Shastri Nagar area, where the cases have been on the rise, has been thoroughly surveyed. 

Gupta also said that around 60,000 households have been surveyed and vector surveillance is underway. 

Fresh mosquito samples have been collected from various parts of Jaipur by a team from the National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR) as the number of Zika patients in the Rajasthan capital rose to 51.

Of the total 50 patients who have tested positive for the Zika virus, 11 are pregnant women, sources at the Union Health Ministry said, adding that after Shastri Nagar area, three students residing at Rajput hostel in neighbouring Sindhi Camp have tested positive.

The Zika virus has already been found in some mosquitoes taken as samples from Sindhi Camp while few mosquitoes collected from densely populated Shastri Nagar had already been found to be carriers of the virus leading to suspicion they are behind the spread of the infection.

The first case had surfaced on September 22 when an 85-year-old woman with no travel history tested positive for the disease. 

Fogging and other anti-larvae activities are being carried out in the Shastri Nagar area to prevent the spread of the virus.

Earlier, a health department official had said 30 of the total cases were doing fine after treatment.

(With Agency Inputs)