The state has achieved 96% coverage of the measles and rubella vaccine in the national drive which began in November 2018, health minister Eknath Shinde told the state assembly. Shinde said that out of the target population of 2.9 crore children in the state, as many as 2.78 had been vaccinated. In Mumbai, the vaccine coverage was lower, at 90%, he added.

Researchers have generated six Zika virus antibodies that could be used to test for and possibly treat a mosquito-borne disease that has infected more than 1.5 million people worldwide. Zika virus is a textbook example of an emerging disease that appears quickly, often in remote areas with little or no public health infrastructure. There is no effective vaccine or drug to treat the disease.