The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) – National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune has been training health officials from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in response to growing concerns about the Zika virus situation in the city. In June, PMC reported five cases of Zika virus infection, including a 28-year-old pregnant woman from Erandwane.
On Wednesday, Dr. Kalpana Baliwant, health officer of PMC, announced that training would take place with experts from NIV, the Public Health Department, and PMC health staff. The training will be conducted online and guidelines provided by the experts will be utilized for the containment and management of Zika virus infection in the city.
Dr. Rajesh Dighe, assistant health officer of PMC, revealed that during the training, NIV scientists will train PMC officials in testing, clinical symptoms, case definitions, and sample collection to help combat the new threat. NIV experts are also expected to discuss Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to prevent a Zika outbreak in the city and cover containment and surveillance activities.
Following cases reported from Erandwane and Mundhwa, over 9,000 people have been examined by civic officials. The guidelines issued by NIV experts and state officials during the training will be followed for ongoing containment and surveillance activities to prevent further spread of Zika virus infection in the city.