Five more test positive for Zika virus in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: Amid concerns of identifying a cluster of Zika virus in the capital city, five more people, including four women, have tested positive for the infection in Kerala, taking the caseload in the state to 28.

Of the fresh cases, two were natives of Anayara here, where a cluster of the disease had been identified within a three-kilometre radius, 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.

Four samples were sent from a private hospital here, while one was collected by the Health Department as part of surveillance, the minister said, adding that16 other samples tested negative.

"With this, the total number of infections in the state rose to 28," she added.

Meanwhile, George, after a joint meeting of health and local self government departments (LSGD) here in view of the virus spread, said there are only eight active Zika cases, three of them pregnant women, in the state at present.

"The outbreak of the virus is reported only in Thiruvananthapuram and not in any other districts so far.We have decided toincrease testing across the state," she told reporters after the meeting.