Kanpur: This district has become a hotspot for the mosquito-borne disease.
An alert has been sounded in the city and a massive vector control drive has also been launched by the local authorities to curb the spread.
Health teams have collected samples of 525 people who were in close contact with the infected people and living in the radius of 3 km of the IAF station hangars for testing.
The first case of the virus was reported in the Kanpur city on October 23 when a warrant officer of the IAF tested positive for the infection.
Speaking about the cases, the District Magistrate Vishak G Ayyar said, “Out of the 89 infected people, 55 are men and 34 are women.
Among these, 23 are those having age below 21 years. Of the total infected people, 12 are Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel. This includes 11 men and one woman.”
The Zika virus spread mainly through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito.
It can also happen from an infected pregnant woman to her foetus or through blood transfusion.
Symptoms of Zika are usually flu-like with fever, rashes, headache, joint pain, muscle pain, conjunctivitis, and red-eye.
According to the Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention (CDC) deaths due to Zika is uncommon.
Mostly, the symptoms of this virus are mild, and in very severe cases the patient requires hospitalisation.
Zika virus occurs in tropical areas with large mosquito populations and the monsoon rains turn the areas into breeding ground for the mosquitoes.
People get infected by Zika virus by being bitten by an infected Aedes mosquito - the same type of mosquito that spreads dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.
People who have the highest risk of getting the Zika virus are those who live in or travel to areas with active Zika transmission.
