Some of the cases of Zika virus have been found in Kerala; Zika virus was first detected among monkeys in Uganda in 1947 and then was later was seen in humans in 1952 in Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania.
Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram district reported 13 Zika virus cases on Thursday, the samples collected were sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune.
According to the world health organization, the Zika virus is caused by Aedes mosquitoes active during the day. It was first found in Uganda. Among monkeys, and later in humans, outbreaks of the Zika virus have been detected in Asia, Africa, America, and Pacific Islands. The incubation period of the Zika virus is between 3 to 14 days, and a majority of people infected by it do not develop any actual symptoms.
Some milder symptoms exhibited by few individuals include fever, rashes, headache, muscle joint pain, etc. Zika virus is also known as trigger Guillain barre syndrome, neuropathy, and myelitis, especially in adults and children.
The virus is also known to responsible for causing congenital abnormalities and microcephaly in a developing foetus and a newborn.
Brazil weathered a hazardous outbreak of the Zika virus in 2015, due to which more than 1,600 Brazilian children were born with devastating microcephaly.
The National Institute of Virology had successfully isolated the Zika virus for the first time in November 2018. In India, the first local outbreak of Zika virus was reported in AHMEDABAD in January 2017 and the second in Tamil Nadu Krishnagiri district in July 2017.