THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Kerala, has declared a state of alert in all districts after 14 cases of Zika virus were reported in the state. Veena George, Minister of Health, Government of Kerala, confirmed the infections in Thiruvananthapuram.
India reported the Zika virus outbreak in the state of Gujarat in 2016-17. The virus is linked to shrunken brains in children and a rare auto-immune disease called Guillain-Barre syndrome. The virus can also be spread sexually and all the cases in the state have been reported among health workers. George said that the first case of virus was reported in a 24-year-old pregnant woman in a district bordering Tamil Nadu.
George added that the ongoing monsoon rains have turned the affected areas into potential breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Kerala is also battling the second wave of COVID-19 with a test positivity rate of more than 10 per cent for the past seven days. Researchers have found that a considerable number of people have been exposed to the infection as 33 out of 196 tested for the virus had developed an immunity against the virus.