Three cases of the Zika virus reported in India

The Zika virus which is transmitted by the daytime active Aedes Aegypti and Aedes Albopictus mosquitoes has finally made its way to India but health ministry officials in India have said,''There is no need to panic''.


The Zika virus was said to have infected three persons including two pregnant women who later gave birth to healthy babies.The World Health Organization in a statement,said that the three cases which the country reported on May 15th were detected during a routine blood surveillance in a hospital in Ahmadabad,two cases were said to have been detected in February and November last year, while the third case was detected January of this year.

Reports from the India Council of Medical Research,however claimed that the infected patients never traveled out of the country,stating that,they might have acquired the virus locally.

According to the Lancet medical journal,about 2.6 billion people in Asia and Africa might be at risk of contacting the virus,due to travel activities,climate and the type of mosquitoes in the regions.

The World Health Organization is however making or giving recommendations to India to try and eradicate mosquitoes completely as the three cases of Zika virus in the country meant that a further outbreak could occur.

''These findings suggest low level transmission of Zika virus and new cases may occur in the future.'' W.H.O.