Situation Improves In Cholera-Hit Rourkela Amid Drop In New Cases, Toll Touches 13

Rourkela: Maintaining that the cholera situation in Rourkela is showing signs of improvement, the Odisha government on Thursday said the spread of the disease has been checked amid declining number of new patients.

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

Public Health Director Dr Niranjan Mishra said six patients have succumbed to the water-borne disease at the Rourkela General Hospital (RGH) and they have been audited.

The government has information that a few more deaths have taken place in some private hospitals and the updated toll can be shared when these hospitals submit the details to the authorities, he said.

The disease has reportedly spread to almost all the 40 wards of Rourkela, affecting around 1400 people.

However, with chlorination of water, the fresh Cholera cases being detected are not that severe and are getting cured. While a medical team from Sundargarh is already at Rourkela, two more teams from SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack and RMRC in Bhubaneswar will also ascertain the exact cause of the cholera outbreak in the city.

The Public Health Director said many stool samples have been tested and Vibrio Cholerae bacteria was found in some samples, while some others carried E-Coli bacteria too. Therefore, it is a mixed infection.

Stressing that the peak period has already crossed, Dr Mishra said the disease is on a declining trend.

Doctors, medical staff, Rourkela civic authorities, and volunteers are working round-the-clock to look after the patients as well as identify and plug the sources of water contamination. At the same time, the administration is using mobile vans to create awareness among the people about diarrhoea and how to prevent it.

Health and Family Welfare Secretary Shalini Pandit, who reviewed the situation in the steel city, said the situation has stabilised and the crisis is likely to be resolved in a couple of days.

The number of new cases has come down due to awareness activities, food safety checking and improvement in the quality of water, she added.