A 14-member central team comprising experts from multiple agencies will visit Odisha Jajpur, where as many as five people have died and some 500 have been hospitalised due to a cholera outbreak in the past week, officials said.
A team comprising experts from Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), food safety and World Health Organization (WHO) will be in the district to contain the situation.
As many as four blocks and one urban local body in Jajpur district are stated to be hit most by the outbreak, although there are reports of cholera-related illnesses from three other nearby districts including parts of Bhadrak, Keonjhar and Cuttack.
“Out of the 41 faecal samples sent to the laboratory from Jajpur district, eight tested positive for Vibrio cholerae. The number of affected persons is being slowly decreasing,” Nilakantha Mishra, director of Odisha’s public health, said.
Sources, however, indicate that the death toll could be as high as 11. When asked, Mishra said only an autopsy can confirm the cause of death in the six other cases.
Jajpur chief district medical officer Prakash Chandra Bal said the situation in Jajpur was under control and that officials have been “monitoring the situation at the micro level”.
“Engineering departments, administrative wings and district administration have been working to ensure that the situation shouldn’t escalate further. Awareness is also being created in every panchayat,” said Bal.
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The Jajpur district administration has cancelled holidays from June 14 to 16 in view of the three-day long Raja festival. All offices in the district will now remain open during the period, with the administration also banning community feasts during the festival.
Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja reviewed the situation Friday and directed administrations of nearby districts to remain alert to check spread of water-borne diseases.
