Zika virus detected in mosquitoes in Chikkaballapur village

CHIKKABALLAPUR: The Health Department is on high alert after the Zika virus was found in mosquitoes at Talakayalabetta village in Sidlaghatta taluk after tests at the National Institute of Virology, Bengaluru. The authorities have now taken up a survey in a 5-km radius of the village and are conducting random checkups.

ASHA workers and health officials are conducting surveys in the villages.

The health officials are monitoring at least 4,800 people of 880 households in Dibburahalli, Vaddahalli, Bachchahalli villages and have taken blood samples of 30 pregnant women and three people those who had contracted fever, for tests.

Schoolchildren and villagers are also being sensitised.

So far, no human infection of the Zika virus has been found in these villages, but pregnant women are being monitored as the virus can cause birth defects in newborns, District Health Officer Mahesh Kumar told Public TV.