Zika Virus: Telangana yet prepared action on the virus

Hyderabad June 01: The Telangana state health department is yet to prepare an action plan on tackling Zika at the state and district levels.

A few days ago, the World Health Organisation (WHO) released ‘disease outbreak’ news, stating that there were three cases of the disease in Ahmedabad.

However, one step that will be taken is avoiding Aedes mosquitoes which carry the virus.

Additional director of the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme Dr S Prabhavati said the same genes of the mosquito carrying dengue virus too. “If dengue cases are high in a particular locality, that means Aedes mosquitoes are present there.

We made a list of such localities where we will intensify anti-larvae operations,” she said. Khammam is one district where a high number of dengue cases were reported.

Officials said that if there were to be a Zika suspected or positive case, the patient would be admitted to the state government's teaching hospitals: Gandhi Hospital and Osmania General Hospital.