10 more people test positive for Zika virus in Kanpur, tally rises to 89

Ten more people, including three Indian Air Force personnel, tested positive for Zika virus in Kanpur on Sunday, taking the total number of cases to 89, District Magistrate Vishak G Ayyar said.

On Saturday, 13 people had tested positive for Zika virus. One case was also reported from neighbouring Kannauj district.

"Out of the 89 infected people, 55 are men and 34 are women. Among these, 23 are those having age below 21 years. Of the total infected people, 12 are Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel. This includes 11 men and one woman," the district magistrate said.

Health teams had collected blood samples of 525 people on Thursday, Friday and Saturday which were sent to the virology lab of the King George's Medical University in Lucknow and the National Institute of Virology in Pune for testing.

"Of these, 23 samples tested positive for Zika virus," the district magistrate added.

Ayyar also said that health teams have collected samples of 525 people who were in close contact with the infected people and living in the radius of 3 km of the IAF station hangars for testing.

The first case of the virus was reported in the city on October 23 when a warrant officer of the IAF tested positive for the infection.

So far, a total of 3,283 samples have been collected from the city and sent to the virology lab of KGMU in Lucknow and NIV in Pune for testing.

Zika is a mosquito-borne virus and hence, getting rid of mosquitoes is the safe way out, the district magistrate said.

To check the spread of the disease, health teams are undertaking sanitisation programmes, including anti-larvae spraying and identifying fever patients, screening seriously ill people and pregnant women.

Health officials have been asked to step up surveillance and ensure door-to-door sampling and testing for Zika virus.

"We advise the local people not to panic regarding the sudden spurt in Zika virus cases," Ayyar said.

A high alert has been sounded in the periphery of hangars of the IAF station, another official said.

Meanwhile, chief medical officer of Kannauj Dr Vinod Kumar on Sunday said, "A 45-year-old person has tested positive of Zika virus in Kapoorpur Katri village under Sadar tehsil of the district. This was confirmed on Saturday. Samples of 32 people were sent for testing, and one sample tested positive for Zika virus."

He added that as of now, the Zika virus patient is normal, and he was given treatment at his home itself. A team of the health department has sprayed anti-larval spray in the area, he said.