NEW DELHI, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- The number of Zika virus cases has reached 100 in India, with as many as 28 people being diagnosed with the infection in the past 36 hours, health officials said Wednesday.
"All the cases are from the western Indian state of Rajasthan and most are from its capital Jaipur," a health official said.
Alarmed at the situation, Indian Health Ministry Wednesday sent a special team to the state, the official added.
The ministry has already set up a control room at the National Centre for Disease Control to undertake regular monitoring of the situation in Rajasthan.
The Health Ministry has also directed states to adhere to the norms of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme for controlling Zika. "However, there is no need to panic as it's not fatal," the official added.
Zika virus disease is spread by daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes. Its symptoms include fever, skin rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, and headache.
This is the third Zika virus outbreak in India since January 2017.
The first outbreak of Zika was reported in India in January 2017 in the western state of Gujarat, while the second outbreak was reported in the southern state of Tamil Nadu in July 2017. Both these outbreaks were contained.
