Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Kerala region authority, India The South has issued a statewide warning after detecting 14 cases virus Zika.
Among the patients was a 24-year-old pregnant woman who was undergoing treatment at a hospital in the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram.
Pregnant women are especially vulnerable and can pass mosquito-borne diseases to their newborns which can result in life-changing conditions such as Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare auto-immune disease.
Kerala State Health Minister Veena George said the patient had tested positive on Thursday. Meanwhile, 13 more cases were confirmed as of Friday.
“All of them are health workers and are currently still under medical treatment, but stable,” he said.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Zika virus is mostly spread through the bite of the Aedes mosquito but can also be transmitted sexually. The virus was first discovered in monkeys in Uganda’s Zika forest in 1947 and has caused several outbreaks around the world in recent decades.
There are no vaccines or antiviral drugs available for prevention or treatment. Symptoms include fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis and muscle and joint pain, but death is rare.
Indian officials said the infected pregnant woman had displayed symptoms including fever, headache and rash before being admitted to hospital, where she safely delivered her baby on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the newborn has been tested and the result is negative. Health officials have been assigned to the area to monitor further cases while infection control teams spray chemicals to stop mosquitoes from breeding.
India was also hit by Zika outbreaks in 2017 and 2018, with hundreds of cases reported in western Gujarat and Rajasthan as well as the central state of Madhya Pradesh. However, this is the first case in Kerala.
Kerala is currently battling a surge in Covid-19 cases, with more than 13,000 infections. Kerala is the state with the highest number of coronavirus cases in India.
(AFP / age)
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