ICMR sounds alarm bells as Zika virus cases rise with the onset of monsoon

livemint.com:

Mint. Last week, Mint reported about the union health ministry's advisory to states to maintain constant vigil over the Zika virus situation in the country. In 2016, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared Zika virus as a ‘public health emergency of international concern’ after the outbreak was reported in some South American and Caribbean countries.

“Zika virus was first detected in India in 2016. During covid pandemic, we found the virus in 16 states. Since there is a prevalence of viruses in the country, Zika virus outbreak will also occur like dengue outbreak… In the past, we have seen sporadic cases in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Kerala," the ICMR scientist added.

Following WHO's classification of Zika virus infection as a public health emergency, India had initiated sentinel surveillance of the virus in March 2016 and since then, sporadic cases have been reported in Gujarat (2016) and Tamil Nadu (2017), among other places. Queries sent to the health ministry spokesperson remained unanswered. This time, Asian strains of Zika—a vector-borne virus spread by Flavivirus, transmitted through the bite of infected Aedes dengue mosquitoes—have been found circulating in the country.

“In the past, both the strains—Brazilian and Asian—were found in India. However, this year, it is the Asian lineage of the virus," said another ICMR scientist that Mint spoke to. The research body is concerned about limited testing, which could result in underreporting of Zika virus cases in the country.