Kerala’s cases of Zika virus infection rose to 28 with five more people tested positive for in the state.
A cluster of Zika virus disease has been identified within a 3 kilometre radius in the state’s capital city, Thiruvananthapuram.
Out of the five new cases identified, four are women. Two of them are natives of Anayara in Thiruvananthapuram, where a cluster of the disease had been identified, Health Minister Veena George said on Thursday.
The other infected people were those hailing from East Fort, Kunnukuzhi and Pattom here and all the samples were tested at the National Virology Institute at Alappuzha, she said.
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Four samples were sent from a private hospital here, while one was collected by the Health Department as part of surveillance, the minister said.
Meanwhile, 16 other samples tested negative.
"With this, the total number of infections in the state rose to 28," the minister added.
The Health Department had said yesterday that acluster of Zika virus was identified within a three km radius of Anayara and steps were being taken for extermination of mosquitoes in the area to prevent its spread to other places.
They also said a control room had been set up at the district medical office in the wake of the Zika outbreak in the capital city, where all the 23 cases were reported.
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(PTI inputs)
