Zika virus alert for Bihar after Siwan youth in Jaipur tests positive
Bihar, Oct 07: The Centre on Sunday sounded an alert to Bihar after a youth from Siwan, studying in Jaipur, tested positive for Zika virus.
The youth, Pankaj Chourasia, 22, a student of computer science in Jaipur, tested positive for the virus recently. He was in Siwan between August 28 and September 12 to appear for an examination.
“The central surveillance unit of the ministry of health and family welfare (MoH&FW) notified us today about the Zika-positive patient who had visited Bihar,” said state epidemiologist Dr Ragini Mishra of the State Health Society, Bihar.
Based on the Centre’s alert, the Bihar health department immediately dispatched a team to Siwan on Sunday to undertake surveillance of all the eight family members of Chourasia residing at Hariarpur village under Lalgarh health sub-centre, which is attached to the Barhariya primary health centre in Siwan, she said.
“None of Chourasia’s family members showed symptoms of Zika virus. However, we are careful as one of the family members is pregnant. Zika can be passed from a pregnant woman to her foetus. Infection during pregnancy can cause certain birth defects. They will be kept under surveillance for the next 26 days, which is double the 13-day incubation period for the Zika virus,” Dr Mishra said.
She said it was unlikely that Chourasia would have contracted the virus in Bihar.
“Zika virus has a 13-day incubation period. The youth left Bihar on September 12. So it is unlikely that he would have contracted the virus in Bihar. Our only worry is that Siwan is affected by dengue, caused by the Ades Aegypti mosquito, which also spreads Zika. So, we want to be cautious and guard against underreporting of Zika,” Dr Mishra said.
Not wanting to take any chances, Bihar has sounded an alert and issued an advisory to all its 38 districts.
“We have asked all our districts to report cases of fever and microcephaly (abnormal smallness of the head, a congenital condition associated with incomplete brain development, usually transmitted from a pregnant woman to her foetus). They have been told to send all such samples to the viral research and diagnostic laboratories for confirmatory tests of rare virus strains like Zika,” the health official said.
Courtesy: www.hindustantimes.com
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
