The Union Health Ministry has rushed a high-level multi-disciplinary team to Kanpur, where a 57-year-old man had tested positive for deadly Zika virus on October 22. This is the third reported case in the country; earlier one case each was reported from Kerala and Maharashtra.

The multi-disciplinary team comprising an entomologist, public health specialists and gynaecologist from National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, National Center for Disease Control and RML Hospital, New Delhi, have been deployed by the Ministry to assist the UP health authorities for control and containment measures.

The team shall work closely with the State health department to take stock of the situation and monitor whether the action plan for Zika management is being implemented. The team will also recommend necessary public health interventions for the management of Zika in the State.

An official said that the Pune laboratory late on Saturday had confirmed the Kanpur case, said an official from the Air Force Station.

At least 200 more samples of those in contact with the patient and those with similar symptoms have been sent to the Pune lab, and they been isolated in their homes. The first Zika infection was confirmed in Kerala on July 8. As per a WHO report, the Zika viral RNA was detected through RTPCR testing at the National Institute of Virology, Pune, in a blood sample collected from a 24-year-old pregnant woman in Thiruvananthapuram. On July 31, Maharashtra too reported its first Zika case from Belsar village in Pune district when a 50-year-old woman tested positive.

Protection against mosquito bites during the day and early evening is key to preventing the spread of infection. Aedes mosquitoes breed in small collections of water around homes, schools, and workplaces and it’s important to eliminate these sites by appropriate methods.