Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj reports first Zika virus case

Kannauj (Uttar Pradesh) [India], November 6 : Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj district has reported its first Zika virus case, Chief Medical Officer Dr Vinod Kumar said on Saturday.
Zika virus has been confirmed in a 45-year-old male who was staying at Shivrajpur village of Kanpur.
"After the Zika-positive man complained of fever, the doctors took his sample on November 3. The health department got alert as soon as he tested positive," Kumar said.
"Samples of 19 people who came in contact with the active person have been taken for investigation," he added.
Meanwhile, with 13 new cases of Zika virus reported in Kanpur on Saturday, the total tally of cases of the mosquito-borne disease in the district stands at 79 as it stepped up surveillance to check its spread, health officials said.
Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that spreads through the bite of an infected Aedes species of mosquito, which bites during the day. Symptoms of this disease are mild fever, rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise or a headache.