The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune has sequenced 5 Zika virus strains collected at different time points of the Jaipur outbreak. Advanced molecular studies of Zika virus strains, carried out through Next Generation Sequencing suggest that the known mutations linked to fetal microcephaly and high transmissibility of Zika virus in Aedes mosquitoes are not present in the current Zika virus strain that has affected Rajasthan. However, the Government is maintaining the high vigil of the possibility of adverse pregnancy outcomes in women exposed to Zika virus as the strain may mutate in future or some other unknown/host factors may play a role in microcephaly /other birth defects.
(Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Nov. 3, 2018).
