India Confirms First Cases of Zika Virus

According to the World Health Organisation, India’s Health Ministry has confirmed it’s first reported cases of the Zika virus in Ahmedabad in the Gujarat state of the country.

The Ministry of Health said that there had been three confirmed cases, including one pregnant woman. They also said that all three people infected were from the Bapunagar area of the city.

The World Health Organisation said that the cases were picked up during a routine laboratory screening in the city.

However, the WHO said that the three cases they have confirmed suggests a “low transmission rate” of the Zika virus in India.

Zika, a virus transmitted by mosquitoes, was first detected in 2015, after a widespread outbreak in Brazil.

The outbreak in Brazil carried on into 2016, whereafter the disease had spread to neighbouring countries in South America, as well as other countries close to the Americas – including North America.

The disease had also spread to the Caribbean and Central America.

The outbreak in 2016 happened in August of that year, during the time of the Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro. This affected people intending to travel to the South American country after health officials issued concerns over a possible worldwide health crisis.

However, no widespread infection of the disease was reported after the Olympics, and the World Health Organisation lifted the international health emergency status of the Zika virus in November 2016.

Zika is especially dangerous to pregnant women, as the disease is associated with microcephaly – a disease that causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads which affects brain development and can lead to other serious birth defects.