UP: Kanpur logs 6 more Zika Virus cases, tally at 10

Kanpur: Six more persons, all civilians, have tested positive for the Zika virus in the Chakeri area of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The total number of Zika virus cases in the city has now touched 10, of which the six persons tested positive for the infection on late Sunday evening.

A report by King George's Medical University (KGMU) lab of Lucknow on Sunday, has found Zika virus infection in four women, including one pregnant woman and two men.

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Kanpur District Magistrate, Vishak G. Iyer, along with a team of Health and Civic departments rushed to the spot to take stock of the area.

Medical teams have so far collected samples of 645 suspected symptomatic, suffering of fever and pregnant women from Zika virus-affected pockets in the Chakeri area of the city.

Their samples have been sent to KGMU lab in Lucknow and National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune.

G.S Bajpai, Uttar Pradesh's Communicable Diseases department Director, said a special ward has been set up in Kanshi Ram hospital where Zika virus patients from Lucknow have been admitted. Patients in the ward have been placed inside mosquito nets.

Kanpur Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Nepal Singh said, "All the infected persons are from outside the Air Force Station area. They are civilians living in the Harjinder Nagar Lal Bangla, Poonam Talkies, Lalkurti Cantt, Ompurwa and Kali Bari areas of Chakeri. Anti-larva spray is being done by medical and civic teams across all the affected pockets."

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