Agriculture Secy Arabinda Padhi Tests Positive For Scrub Typhus; 2820 Cases Detected In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Agriculture Secretary Arabinda Padhi diagnosed with scrub typhus, sources said on Wednesday.

Padhi had got himself tested at Capital Hospital after developing symptoms about two days ago and is recuperating at home, hospital sources were quoted as saying. He is said to have been diagnosed with the disease at an early stage.

Earlier in the day, director of public health Niranjan Mishra informed that scrub typhus has spread to almost all districts of the state, and also urban areas. He put the number of such cases at 2,820 with 22,077 samples tested so far. The disease has claimed eight lives so far.

He attributed the rise in the number cases to active surveillance and increased testing.

Mishra said the central team, which has come to assess the situation, visited Bargarh, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Balangir, and Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Burla. “They have praised the steps taken by the state government to contain the disease through early detection. Odisha has been verbally asked to increase testing and further steps will be initiated on basis of their written recommendations,” he said.

The health official further stated that state teams are in Bargarh and Sundargarh to verify suspected scrub typhus deaths

Scrub typhus, also known as bush typhus, is a disease caused by a bacteria called Orientia tsutsugamushi. Scrub typhus is spread to people through bites of infected chiggers (larval mites).