Two days after Maharashtra detected its first case of the Zika virus infection, the Centre on Monday sent a team of health officials to the state.
The central team to Maharashtra consists of a public health expert , a gynaecologist and an entomologist, the Union health ministry said in a release. They will monitor the infection situation in Maharashtra and help the state government to manage Zika virus cases.
On Saturday, a 50-year old woman tested positive for the infection in Pune’s Belsar village. Maharashtra is the second state after Kerala to report an outbreak of the vector-borne disease. The woman has, however, recovered from the disease.
The Zika virus is transmitted primarily by the Aedes mosquitoes, which bite during the day, as per the World Health Organization. It can also be sexually transmitted. Symptoms of the infection include fever, rashes, headache and joint pain.
In Kerala, the first case of the virus was detected on July 8. Till Saturday, the state had recorded 63 infections. Of these, three patients were being still undergoing treatment.
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