Karnataka reports first case of Zika virus after 5-year-old tests positive

Karnataka reported its first case of Zika virus after a five-year-old girl tested positive on Monday, PTI reported.

The Zika virus is transmitted primarily by the Aedes mosquitoes, which bite during the day, according to the World Health Organization. Symptoms of the infection include fever, rashes, headache and joint pain. The disease can also be sexually transmitted.

The patient who tested positive on Monday hails from the Manvi taluk in the Raichur district, according to The Times of India.

State Health Minister K Sudhakar said that the case came to light when samples of the girl were tested for dengue and chikungunya. “Usually 10% of such samples are sent to Pune for test, out of which this has come across as positive,” the minister said.

Sudhakar said that the laboratory report from Pune about the confirmed case of the Zika virus was released on December 8. Two other samples tested negative for the virus.

The state health minister added that the girl who tested positive did not have any travel history. He said that the government is maintaining caution and that health surveillance officials in Raichur and adjoining districts have been told to send the samples of any suspected patients for testing for the Zika virus.

The girl who tested positive had initially been admitted to the Sindhanur government hospital in the Raichur district after she complained of high fever and a headache, according to The Times of India.

The patient was later transferred to the Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences, Bellari, for further treatment. She was reportedly discharged on November 18 and has recovered from the infection.

In November, a man in Pune was had tested positive for the Zika virus. He recovered from the infection later, according to The Indian Express. Prior to this, one person had tested positive in July in the Palghar district near Mumbai.