BHUBANESWAR: Cholera has raised its ugly head in Kalahandi district’s Narla block where the dreaded disease has claimed three lives in 15 days.
A nine-year-old girl, a 62-year-old woman and a 17-year-old boy have fallen prey to the waterborne disease which has begun to spread its tentacles once again. All the three deaths have been reported from Narla, reliable sources said.
Between August 21 and September 5, over 120 cases of severe diarrhoea were recorded in the block. Once the outbreak was reported, the district administration sent samples for investigation which tested positive for
Vibrio Cholerae.
Cholera has emerged as a major public health disorder in southern districts where the Government has failed to control it. After Koraput and Rayagada, Kalahandi is now the epicentre of the disease. The Health and Family Welfare Department, however, has been mum on the matter and attributed the deaths to severe diarrhoea, and not cholera. Diarrhoea has been under control this year with about 16 deaths reported and 1,716 persons affected. In 2013, the disease had claimed 29 lives, while 59 deaths each were reported in 2012 and 2011.
On Saturday, the Department took stock of the status of communicable diseases and stated that though outbreaks are under check, dengue has continued to be a cause of concern. The fever has been spreading rapidly in Jajpur district, where at least 415 people have contracted the disease. Of the 4,057 blood samples sent for dengue testing, 969 have tested positive this year. One person each have died in Jajpur and Jagatsinghpur.
On Saturday, 94 samples were tested out of which 36 tested positive. Jajpur accounted for 15 cases.
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