Kerala witnessed Zika Virus for the first time, 13 cases reported in Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala has witnessed the first Zika virus – a mosquito-borne viral infection on Thursday after the virus was detected in the blood samples of a 24-year-old pregnant woman in Thiruvananthapuram.

Around 13 cases suspected to be positive for Zika virus have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune. According to the report, from the 19 samples, 13 are health workers including doctors and are suspected to be positive.

According to the WHO, the Zika virus is a mosquito-borne flavivirus and the disease is caused when a virus is transmitted after the bite of Aedes mosquitoes.

The Symptoms of the Zika Virus include fever, rash, and joint pain, headache, or malaise. The synonyms generally last for 2–14 days. The detection of the Zika virus is associated with many problems such as premature birth or miscarriage. A pregnant woman who is infected with the Zika virus can also cause infants to be born with congenital Zika syndrome.

This syndrome is associated with abnormalities like abnormally formed or absent brain structures, hydrocephalus, and neuronal migration disorders, etc. According to WHO, It is said that there is no treatment discovered for the Zika virus so far.

Currently, there are no vaccines or cure for Zika virus. The virus was first isolated in 1947 in Uganda’s zika forest.