At least 89 people, including 17 children, have tested positive for the Zika virus in a surge of cases in Kanpur, its health department said on Monday.

First discovered in 1947, the mosquito-borne Zika virus reached epidemic proportions in Brazil in 2015, when thousands of babies were born with microcephaly, a disorder that causes abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains.

“There has been a surge in cases of the Zika virus and the health department has formed several teams to contain the spread,” Dr Nepal Singh, chief medical officer of Kanpur district, said.