Zika Virus in India- Know all facts about this Virus

Hello Folks!

You might have heard the news already that the first case of the Zika Virus is reported in India. Are you curious to know what this Zika Virus is all about? We will cover all the details about this virus in this blog.

What is Zika Virus?

• Zika virus is a member of the virus family Flaviviridae. 
• It spreads by daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes like A. aegypti and A. albopictus. 
• Its name has been derived from the Zika Forest of Uganda, where the virus was first isolated in 1947. It was later identified in humans in 1952 in Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania. 
• Zika virus shares a genus with dengue, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and West Nile viruses.

Classification of Zika Virus

The biological classification of the Zika Virus is given in the table below:

Modes of Zika Virus Transmission

1. Mosquito: The Zika Virus is primarily spread by the female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which are usually active during the daytime. Apart from this type, several other species of mosquito with the genus Aedes have also been found to transmit the Zika virus they are as follows:

• Aedes Africanus

• Aedes Furcifer
• Aedes Hensilli
• Aedes Vittatus
• Aedes Luteocephalus

2. Sexual Transmission: Zika can be transmitted from men and women to their sexual partners; most known cases involve transmission from symptomatic men to women. 

3. Pregnancy: Zika virus can spread by vertical (or “mother-to-child”) transmission, during pregnancy or at delivery. Infection during pregnancy has been linked to changes in the neuronal development of the unborn child.

4. Blood transfusion: There are also cases of Zika virus through blood transfusion. As of April 2016, two cases of Zika transmission through blood transfusions have been reported globally, both from Brazil. 

Symptoms of Zika Virus Infection

• The result of a Zika virus infection is a fever that mildly resembles the symptoms of Dengue fever. 
• The symptoms of Zika fever may last less than seven days.
• The diagnosis is done by testing the blood, urine or saliva of the infected person.
• There are multiple symptoms like Skin rashes, Muscle pain, Joint pain, Headache and Fever.
•  Most people with Zika virus infection do not develop symptoms.
• Zika virus infection during pregnancy can cause infants to be born with microcephaly (smaller than normal head size). It can also cause other congenital malformations, known as congenital Zika syndrome.
• It can also lead to birth defects and development of Guillain-Barre syndrome, where the immune system attacks the nerves.

Treatment and Prevention of Zika Virus

• There is no specific treatment or vaccine currently available to treat Zika.
• The best form of prevention is protection against mosquito bites and clearing stagnant water where mosquitoes breed.
• Proper use of contraceptives because of the possibility of congenital abnormalities and sexual transmission.

Zika Virus in India

• The first outbreak of the Zika Virus was reported in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in January/February 2017
• The second outbreak was reported in July 2017 from Krishnagiri District in Tamil Nadu.
• Both these outbreaks were successfully contained through intensive surveillance and vector management.
• Later, cases of the Zika virus were also reported in Rajasthan.
• Recently, Zika virus has been reported in Kerala with 13 cases of infection.
• Samples of 13 persons, suspected to be positive with Zika virus, have been sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

So these were all the major information related to ZIka Virus. Now, let us briefly look at other diseases transmitted through the Aedes mosquito.

1. Dengue: Dengue is transmitted by several species of mosquito within the genus Aedes. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle, and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles. The dengue vaccine CYD-TDV or Dengvaxia has been approved in about 20 countries.

2. Chikungunya: Known as epidemic polyarthritis, this mosquito-borne viral disease can cause debilitating joint pain. It is transmitted by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. The symptoms of chikungunya in infected individuals are often mild and confused with dengue. There is no specific antiviral drug treatment and vaccine for chikungunya.

3. Yellow Fever: It is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes. Symptoms of yellow fever include fever, headache, jaundice, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting and fatigue. Yellow fever vaccine which is known as 17D, is prescribed by WHO as a safe and affordable.

Moving on, these were the diseases that we talked about. Now, let’s also see the government initiatives to tackle such vector-borne diseases. 

• National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme: The central nodal agency in India for prevention and control of six vector-borne diseases:

•  Malaria
• Dengue
• Lymphatic Filariasis
•  Kala-azar
•  Japanese Encephalitis 
• Chikungunya 

• Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK): An initiative under the National Health Mission, for surveillance of Microcephaly (system for monitoring birth defects).

• Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme: To maintain decentralized laboratory-based and IT enabled disease surveillance systems for epidemic prone diseases to monitor disease trends.

With this, we come to the end of this blog on ‘Zika Virus’. We have covered all the important information which are relevant from a competitive exam point of view. 

Hope you find this blog an interesting read. For more such blogs, keep an eye on our websites daily!