Maharashtra reported 140 cases of Zika virus in 2024, highest since 2021: WHO
Pune district recorded 125 of the 151 cases in India.
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Maharashtra reported 140 cases of the Zika virus disease in 2024, its highest since 2021, said a situation report published by the World Health Organization on Wednesday.
The state had reported one case in 2021, three in 2022 and 18 in 2023. It accounted for most of India’s 151 reported Zika cases in 2024, with Karnataka reporting 10 cases and Gujarat recording one.
The Zika virus is transmitted primarily by the Aedes species of mosquito, which bites during the day. Symptoms of infection include fever, rashes, headache and joint pain. The virus can also be transmitted sexually, from mother to fetus during pregnancy and through blood transfusions.
Most infections are asymptomatic, but the Zika virus can lead to serious complications such as congenital Zika syndrome, microcephaly in newborns and neurological disorders such as the Guillain-Barré syndrome.
In its report, the WHO cited data from India’s Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme and noted that Pune district was the epicentre of the outbreak with 125 cases. Ahmednagar reported 11 cases, while Kolhapur, Sangli, Solapur and Mumbai Suburban districts recorded a case each.
The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme is a decentralised state-based system of surveillance for communicable and non-communicable diseases aimed at detecting early warning signs of infectious disease outbreaks.
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