2-Member Central Team Visits Rourkela To Take Stock Of Cholera Outbreak

Rourkela: In the wake of outbreak of cholera and diarrhoea in Rourkela, a two-member team from the Centre visited the city in Odisha’s Sundargarh district to take stock of the situation on Monday.

The Health Ministry had formed a 5-member team to study the cause and spread of the disease that reportedly claimed 13 lives in the steel city. Nearly 1,400 people were afflicted with the disease in almost all 40 Wards of Rourkela and its adjoining areas in the outbreak which was reported from December 11.

Of the Central team, two members, including Dr Rashmi Ranjan Mohanty and Dr NM Somalkar, regional director of the department visited the Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH) where most of the patients were undergojng treatment during the outbreak.

The team members held discussion with the doctors of RGH to ascertain the cause of the outbreak of the water-born disease in the city and its nearby areas.

While the state government put the death toll due to diarrhoea and cholera at six, unofficial sources claimed that at least 13 people died due to the disease.

Following the spread of the disease, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had urged the state government to collaborate with Central agencies to prevent transmission and provide essential aid to the people. He had also written to the Health Ministry to send a team to study the situation at ground level.