Jaipur, October 13: Amid the Zika Virus outbreak in Rajasthan, a total of 50 people have tested positive in Jaipur district. The Union Health Ministry informed that 18 more people in Jaipur were tested positive for the virus, taking the total number of such cases to 50. Earlier, a department official had said that 30 of the total cases were doing fine after treatment. Reports inform that at least 10 of the new cases were reported from Jaipur’s Shashtri Nagar locality. In the wake of the outbreak, at least 276 teams have been deployed in Zika virus-affected wards of Jaipur's Shastri Nagar.

According to an ANI report, these teams have surveyed 11,313 houses, of which 2,282 are positive for mosquito breeding. Apart from this, around 39,246 containers have been checked, of which 3,567 are positive for larvae. A special isolation ward has been created at the Hira Bagh Training Centre to treat the Zika virus-affected patients. Fogging has also been done in the affected area to prevent the spread of the virus. Zika Virus Disease: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment of The Mosquito-Borne Infection.

Meanwhile, a control room has been activated at the National Centre for Disease Control to monitor the situation. The first case of the virus had surfaced on September 22. Fogging and other anti-larvae activities are being carried out in the Shastri Nagar area to prevent the spread of the virus. Zika Virus Outbreak: Centre Deploys Special Team to Control Spread.

The Zika virus is a disease that is transmitted through Aedes aegypti mosquito. It has symptoms like fever, skin rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain. Reports inform that it is harmful to pregnant women, as it can lead to microcephaly, a condition in which a baby’s head is significantly smaller than expected, in newborn children. 22-year-old from Bihar's Siwan, studying in Jaipur was tested positive for the vector-borne disease.

Zika Virus continues to be on surveillance radars of the Union Health Ministry although it is no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern under WHO notification since November 18, 2016.

The first outbreak in India was reported in Ahmedabad in January 2017 while the second was reported in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri district in July 2017. Both these outbreaks were successfully contained through intensive surveillance and vector management, the ministry had said earlier.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 13, 2018 03:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).