THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT IS READY TO FIGHT ZIKA VIRUS

The Indian government has marked out strategies to tackle the Zika Virus threats. The government, during its Monday meeting, is likely to map out the breeding grounds of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that also spreads dengue and chikunguniya. This map would be based on areas where the mosquitoes bred during the last dengue season when more than 15,000 people in Delhi contacted the vector-borne disease.

It is also in the plans of the government to train doctors working in 33 government hospitals on ways to tackle Zika virus. “We will get a better idea of the measures that will be put in place after the meeting on Monday,” the official said. As of now, the government hospitals in Delhi have not been issued any advisory.

On Friday, Union health minister JP Nadda had convened an emergency meeting with his team of medical experts from across the country to discuss the prevention of Zika virus in India. Top researchers from the Indian Council of Medical Research, including the director of Pune-based National Institute of Virology that is screening samples for Zika virus, were present at the meeting.