Gandhinagar: State health minister Praful Pansheriya reviewed the Chandipura virus outbreak situation in the state on Monday. An official statement said he held a meeting in Gandhinagar, where he assessed the geographic distribution of cases across various districts, the reasons behind the spread of the virus, laboratory testing facilities, and the measures taken to prevent its spread by the local administration.The govt said that, till Monday, 63 suspected cases of Chandipura virus were reported in the state. Of these, 12 tested positive. Test results were available for 55 of the 63 suspected samples, while results for the remaining eight samples were still awaited.Quoting the minister, official statement said that the confirmed positive cases in Gujarat included two each in Panchmahal and Kheda districts, and one case each in Sabarkantha, Mehsana, Bharuch, Bhavnagar, and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation area.Pansheriya said that once a case was detected, intensive monitoring of that pocket became essential. He instructed officials to review patients’ travel and case histories to better understand the source of transmission.The govt said large-scale health screening was being carried out in the affected areas, covering thousands of homes, including both temporary and permanent houses. To control sandflies and other insects that transmit the virus, dusting operations were under way in and around ‘kutcha’ houses and cattle sheds.Since the virus primarily affects young children, the minister urged parents to seek immediate medical attention if a child develops symptoms such as sudden high fever, convulsions, vomiting, diarrhoea, or unconsciousness. He advised them to contact the nearest govt hospital or a paediatric specialist without delay.
