Central Team Visits Odisha’s Sundargarh To Review Scrub Typhus Menace

Sundargarh: Amid a steady increase in scrub typhus cases in Odisha, a team from the Centre visited Odisha’s Sundargarh on Saturday to review the situation in the district.

The team, which is accompanied by two medical experts from the state, is also slated to take stock of the situation in Bargarh district, where several people have reportedly died due to scrub typhus cases.

As the health authorities geared up geared up to tackle the spread of the deadly scrub typhus in several parts of the state, particularly western Odisha, the number of cases in Sundargarh district alone has touched 292.

The Central team, which includes Dr Sameer Gulati, Professor at Lady Hardinge Medical College in New Delhi; Dr Tushar N Nale, Public Health Specialist in National Centre for Disease Control in New Delhi; Dr Dhara Shah, Assistant Director (Microbiology), National Center for Disease Control, New Delhi, attended a review meeting at the office of the Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO), sources said.

While the first scrub typhus patient was identified in Sundargarh district in January this year, the infection rate reduced gradually. However, the number of cases increased after August.

Scrub typhus is transmitted by the bites of infected chiggers (larval mites). The most common symptoms of the disease include fever. The chigger bites can cause itchy, inflamed bumps on the skin called ‘eschar’. It is one of the infections if left untreated, can have fatal consequences.

The visit of the Central team reportedly came after Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan wrote to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya seeking his intervention to tackle the rising scrub typhus cases in the state.

Dharmendra had also urged Mandaviya to allocate additional funds for medical supplies and awareness campaigns.