A five-member medical team has been sent to Jaipur to investigate and ascertain the ground situation there after an elderly woman from the Rajasthan capital tested positive for Zika virus infection, a Union Health Ministry official said.

The woman was admitted to Sawai Man Singh (SMS) hospital on September 11 with joint pain, redness in eyes and weakness. She was tested negative for dengue and swine flu. This raised suspicion, and samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, to test for Zika virus infection and the report was positive, Dr U S Agrawal, the principal of SMS Medical College, had said on September 23.

This was the first such suspected case in the state. The woman, a resident of Shastri Nagar area in Jaipur, was discharged a few days back after she was feeling better, Dr Agrawal said. A Union Health Ministry official said, "We have dispatched a team to verify the facts and ascertain the ground situation. The team has already reached Jaipur." 

The five-member team is being led by director of National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). "The state health department has been carrying out surveys to screen any suspected patient in the radius of 4 km of the woman's house in Shastri Nagar area and have collected samples of eight people suffering from fever. "Samples have been sent to SMS hospital for testing for zika virus. Measures were taken for larval control," Jaipur CMHO Narottam Sharma told PTI on September 25.