No need to panic, steps being taken to ensure Zika virus does not spread: Rajesh Tope

The woman patient (50) diagnosed with the infection, the first such case reported in Maharashtra, has recovered completely, the state health department had said last week

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday said a three-member central team is in Pune district where a woman was diagnosed with the Zika virus recently, and urged people not to panic.

Steps are being taken to ensure there is no spread of the mosquito-borne disease, he said.

The woman patient (50) diagnosed with the infection, the first such case reported in Maharashtra, has recovered completely, the state health department had said last week.

Tope said the multidisciplinary team, dispatched by the Union Health Ministry, is visiting Pune district to review the situation after the Zika virus case was found in a village under Purandar taluka.

"Mosquito breeding areas are being destroyed and symptoms of patients monitored. Steps are being taken to ensure there is no spread of the disease," he said and urged people not to panic.

The three-member team consists of a public health expert from the office of Regional Director, Pune; a gynecologist from Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi; and an entomologist from National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR), ICMR, New Delhi.

A state government medical team visited the village on Saturday and met the sarpanch and gram panchayat members and instructed them about preventive measures.

The Zika virus spreads through the bite of the aedes aegypti mosquito and most patients do not have symptoms. Its typical symptoms include fever, body ache and conjunctivitis.

State surveillance officer Dr Pradip Awate last week told PTI that there was no need to panic.

"Zika is a moderate disease as 80 per cent patients do not get any symptoms and remaining 20 per cent have moderate flu-like symptoms. One can recover by drinking enough water, taking rest and having a simple paracetamol tablet," he had said.

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