Pune: 66 cases of Zika virus infection detected since June

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At least 66 cases of Zika virus infection have been reported in Pune city in the since June, reported PTI citing civic officials on Tuesday.

Out of the 66 cases, four patients have died, but the cause in each case was not the Zika infection, a senior health official told PTI. These four patients were aged between 68 and 78.

Those infected also included 26 pregnant women but most of them are in good health, an official statement said.

The first case of Zika virus infection in the city this year was reported on June 20. A 46-year-old doctor in the Erandwane area tested positive, following which, his 15-year-old daughter too tested positive for the infection.

"The 66 cases include four deaths, but these deaths were not due to Zika but comorbidities the patients were suffering from....such as cardiac issues, liver ailments, old age. Their reports came positive for the virus from the NIV (National Institute of Virology) after death," the health department official said, as per the PTI report.

The Pune Municipal Corporation's health department would, nonetheless, send their reports to the death audit committee of the Maharashtra government, the official added.

"So far, no death due to Zika has been reported in the country," he said, reported PTI.

Preganant women with Zika virus maybe prone to microcephaly (a condition in which the head is significantly smaller due to abnormal brain development) in the foetus.

The virus is transmitted through the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito, which is also known to transmit dengue and chikungunya infections.

"The PMC health department is conducting surveillance. As a precautionary measure, it is taking measures such as fumigation to curb the breeding of mosquitoes," the statement added.

While Mumbai reports the highest number of dengue and malaria cases in the state every year, Zika doesn't make the list even though it is highly transmissible. The reason there are no reported cases of the Zika virus in Mumbai is that civic authorities are not actively looking for it, according to state health department officials.

"From a public health standpoint, it is unlikely that there are no Zika cases in Mumbai. It is only when a case is reported from an area that there is a focus on mass testing within a five-km radius," said Dr Radhakishan Pawar, deputy director of state health services.

One reason for the limited scope of large-scale diagnosis is the lack of testing facilities. KEM Hospital is the only hospital in the city that tests patients for the Zika virus. Apart from that, the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune is the only diagnostic facility for Zika testing in the state. This is also the case across the country there is only the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), in Delhi, and a few selected virus research and diagnostic laboratories of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) that tests for ZIka.