Scientists from a Hyderabad laboratory have claimed that they have developed the world’s first vaccine against the virus. The scientists have developed two vaccines using a live Zika virus imported officially. Bharat Biotech International Limited in Hyderabad have patented the vaccine. According to Dr Ella,  Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech Ltd, the Hyderabad-based lab can make one million doses of the vaccine in four months and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been requested to help fast-track the process.

The Zika virus was first discovered in Africa in 1947. But until last year, when it was found in Brazil, it had never been a threat in the Western Hemisphere. The virus causes no more than a mild illness in most people. But there is mounting evidence from Brazil suggesting infection in pregnant women is linked to abnormally small heads in their babies — a birth defect called microcephaly.

India has been free of this virus for over 60 years, and that traces of Zika were last seen in 1952-53.