India reports three cases of Zika virus

The Zika virus is spread by the Aedes mosquito. Felipe Dana / AP Photo / File

NEW DELHI // India has reported three cases of the Zika virus for the first time, including two pregnant women who delivered healthy babies.

The three patients were from Gujarat state and have recovered, health ministry officials said.

“There is no need to panic,” said Dr Soumya Swaminathan, who heads the Indian Council of Medical Research.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday that the three cases that India reported to the WHO on May 15 were detected through routine blood surveillance in a hospital in Ahmadabad, Gujarat’s capital. Two cases were detected in February and November last year, while a third case was detected in January.

Dr Swaminathan said the three patients had not travelled overseas and had acquired the infection locally.

The virus is spread by the Aedes mosquito.

Although it was first identified in 1947, Zika was not considered a major health threat until a major outbreak in Brazil in 2015 revealed that Zika can lead to severe birth defects when pregnant women are infected.

The WHO said Zika symptoms are mild and no deaths have been reported globally, but it sometimes causes complications including microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome. Microcephaly is a birth defect where the head is abnormally small and brains might not have developed properly. Guillain-Barre syndrome is a disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system.

The WHO said the three were the first cases of Zika virus infections from India and provided evidence on the presence of the virus in the country.

“These findings suggest low level transmission of Zika virus and new cases may occur in the future,” it said.

The WHO said there was significant risk of the further spread of the virus and recommended that governments push with efforts to control of mosquitoes.

However, the agency did not recommend any curbs on travel to India.

Last year, the WHO declared the spread of Zika a global public health emergency.

* Associated Press