UP: Centre rushes team to Kanpur after first Zika virus case

The Union Health Ministry has sent a high-level multidisciplinary team to Uttar Pradesh where a case of Zika virus disease has been reported.

A 57-year-old man from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh tested positive for Zika virus on October 22.

The ministry said the multidisciplinary team comprising an entomologist, public health specialists and gynaecologist drawn from the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, National Centre for Disease Control and RML Hospital, New Delhi has been deployed to assist the state health authorities for control and containment measures of Zika virus disease.

The team shall work closely with the state health department, take stock of the situation on the ground and assess whether the Union Health Ministry's Action Plan for Zika Management is being implemented.

The team will also recommend necessary public health interventions for management of Zika in the state, the statement said.