45 People Affected As Diarrhoea Spreads On Outskirts Of Odisha’s Berhampur

Berhampur: Two villages on the outskirts of Odisha’s Berhampur city are in the grip of diarrhoea with at least 45 persons being affected by the disease.

Around a week back, a family of Gauda Sahi in Lathi village complained of diarrhoea and vomiting. Gradually, around 40 people of the village were affected by the water-borne disease. Initially, they were admitted in community health centre (CHC) at Kukudakhandi and some of them were shifted to MKCG Medical College and Hospital as their condition deteriorated.

After Lathi, the disease has spread to its neighbouring village Bendalia on the outskirts of Berhampur. At least 5 villagers of Bendalia have been hospitalised for the disease in the last 3 days.

On getting information, the Health department has formed a rapid action team to control the spread of diarrhoea. The team members visited both villages and collected samples from water sources used by them for laboratory test.

The officials from the CHC and Health department and Anganwadi workers have been engaged to distribute halogen tablets among the villagers to use those for disinfecting their water sources and promote awareness on sanitation and hygienic practices in daily life, said Dr Ramchandra Mohapatra, medical officer of the CHC.

Suspecting that the disease may have spread from contaminated water pipelines, the Health department has also written to Rural Water Supply and Sanitation department to take necessary steps.