The vector is already present throughout India. I suspect if infected travelers return then the virus could become endemic. Looks like there is some government interest, but given poor surveillance in general in India, diagnosing actual cases early on will be a challenge. - Ro
India prepares for Zika virus, health ministry readies testing kits
Priyanka Vora, Hindustan Times, Mumbai | Updated: Jan 28, 2016 09:40 IST
As countries in South and Central America grapple with the Zika virus which has been linked to microcephaly? a birth defect where babies are born with smaller heads which limits brain development ? India is preparing for any intrusion of the virus.
The Union health ministry is in the process of getting testing kits for detecting the virus which is spread by the bite of Aedes Aegypti mosquito that also spreads dengue, a disease that has a high prevalence in India.
?We are in the process of procuring testing kits for detecting Zika virus. The government is also writing to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to know more about the infection and prepare accordingly,? said a senior official from the Zoonosis unit of the union ministry of health and family welfare. Sources said the ministry is also establishing protocols to keep a close watch on any ?sudden rise? in birth defects in any region of the country.
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?We have Aedes Aegypti but for ages we don?t have Yellow fever in India. This virus never got introduced in India and never got established as public health problem even in Asia. Similarly, a similar prediction can be made at this moment about Zika virus,? said Dr Mourya. Maharashtra?s health department is waiting for guidelines from the centre on the disease. ?We discussed Zika virus in our epidemiology meeting. As we have the vector that spreads the virus it is better to be prepared for any sporadic cases,? said a senior state health official.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...esting-kits/story-3IkJewuNCi61Gqtd5GRuRK.html
Zika virus: Here?s everything you need to know
A 1952-53 study in six states showed the presence of antibodies to Zika virus. Experts say that could be because of exposure to similar viruses
Written by Pritha Chatterjee | Updated: January 27, 2016 7:30 pm
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Given this rapid spread of the virus, does India have reason to worry? Zika virus has never been isolated in India. The only time any trace of the virus was recorded in India was in 1952-53. A study titled ?Neutralising antibodies against certain viruses in the sera of the residents of India?, published in a journal called The Journal of Immunology, recorded among other viruses, antibodies to the Zika virus. The study, which went to 38 localities in six states in India, tested 15 vector borne viruses. ?Significant numbers of the sera neutralised Zika,? noted the study authored by ?KC Smithburn of the Rockefeller Foundation in New York, JA Karr, director, virus research centre in Poona and PB Gatne, Medical offer, Bombay State India.?
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The US-based CDC also identifies India as one of the countries where antibodies to Zika virus have been identified only in healthy people. In other words, though people in India have never actually fallen sick from the Zika virus, studies have shown some people have developed immunity to the virus. ?These studies cannot determine where the people were infected or if they were infected with Zika virus because the antibodies may have resulted from infections with other closely related viruses, such as dengue,? the CDC has stated in its report on the Zika virus published in the first week of January.
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- See more at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/ex...hould-you-be-about-zika/#sthash.Zqf6be0F.dpuf
Zika virus set to hit India?
Jyoti Shelar | Mumbai Mirror | Jan 27, 2016, 11.28 AM IST
HIGHLIGHTS
? Spread by mosquitos, the Zika virus infected 2,500 people in Brazil last year.
? The Zika virus is spread from person to person through the bite of an Aedes aegypti mosquito.
Spread by mosquitos, the Zika virus infected 2,500 people in Brazil last year.
Experts believe it's only a matter of time before India becomes its next target The Zika virus, transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito (the same vector that is known to transmit dengue and chicken guinea) has spread widely in Brazil with more than 2,500 cases reported in 2015. And according to doctors, the mosquite-borne disease should be a cause for concern in India. Healthcare workers in Brazil woke up to the crisis when pregnant women infected with Zika were discovered to have delivered babies with microcephaly, or, an abnormally small head and incomplete brain development. While medical experts were in the middle of establishing more links between the virus and the birth defect, an advisory issued by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week cautioned pregnant women and those of childbearing age against travelling to Brazil and 13 other countries where cases of Zika virus have surfaced.
Physician Dr Pratit Samdani emphasises on the importance of staying alert. "People travel across countries a lot, both for leisure as well as for work. I wouldn't be sur prised if we suddenly got a case of Zika in India," he says, adding that people planning their summer vacations and holidays to coincide with the upcoming Olympics in Rio De Janeiro should be cautious. The host city has already launched massive drives to target mosquito breeding sites to curb the spread of Zika virus and thus ensure that athletes and visitors remain safe.According to Samdani, with the vector already being present in India, we may not be far from treating a case that could lead to widespread transmission.
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...rus-set-to-hit-India/articleshow/50727818.cms
Will Indian government wake up to the Zika threat late?
With the Zika virus spreading to over 25 countries now, western and Caribbean countries are taking the threat more seriously.
IndiaToday.in
New Delhi, January 27, 2016 | Edited by Sanjana Agnihotri | UPDATED 14:25 IST
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Researchers say the virus can be spread through intercourse and most likely blood transfusion. But what is the government doing to prevent the coming Zika. Are the people coming in the country being screened at the airport? Or will the authorities wait till Zika becomes the next Ebola?
The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) which was initiated during the Ebola scare should come into action again and screen passengers coming from Zika-affected countries.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/...wake-up-to-the-zika-threat-late/1/580731.html