Pune District: 79 Villages Under Surveillance To Contain Zika Virus Threat

Pune, 10th August 2021: With the end of the coronavirus nowhere in sight, the risk of another virus named Zika virus has increased in Maharashtra. The health department is on alert after the first case of Zika virus was found in Pune district on July 30. The district administration has feared the arrival of Zika virus in 79 villages. The Health Department is preparing all these villages for emergency services.

Following the order of District Collector Dr Rajesh Deshmukh, the health department has been informed about the risk of the virus and emergency measures have been initiated in these villages. The District Collector issued an order on August 5, which said that 79 villages in the Pune district would be kept under observation for Zika virus infection. The local administration has been asked to keep a tight vigilance on these villages.

In addition, the district administration has directed the taluka administration and Gram Panchayat to immediately implement the precautionary measures and be extremely alert.

Collector Dr Rajesh Deshmukh has also released the list of these villages which have diseases like Zika, Dengue and Chikungunya. For this reason, the District Collector has said that the villages which have been suffering from Dengue and Chikungunya continuously for the last three years should be considered susceptible to the Zika virus.

If cases of Dengue and Chikungunya are found in these 79 villages, their blood samples will also be tested for Zika infection.

The first case of the Zika virus was reported in Pune on 30 June at Belsar village in Purandar taluka. A woman’s blood sample was sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, which confirmed Zika virus. Following this, the authorities in Maharashtra were put on alert and the health department started taking preventive measures to contain the spread of Zika virus disease in the state.

The Zika virus is spread by the Aedes mosquito. These mosquitoes spread dengue and chikungunya. Such mosquitoes are seen all over the country including Maharashtra.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Aedes mosquitoes usually bite during the day, peaking in the early morning and late afternoon or evening.

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