In a dubious distinction, Odisha is the sixth most ‘diseased’ State in the country as it recorded as many as 87 outbreaks of epidemics last year. Even in the year 2015 up to February 18, the State has witnessed three outbreak alerts so far.
According to data available with Integrated Disease Surveillance Centre here, the State has witnessed seven types of disease outbreaks last year and three types of disease outbreaks this year (up to February 18). Three districts, Ganjam, Keonjhar and Jajpur, have recorded outbreaks of epidemic-prone diseases this year. While Ganjam has reported outbreaks of acute diarrhoeal disease and food poisoning, Jajpur has seen viral hepatitis outbreak in January-February this year. Viral fever taking epidemic proportion struck Keonjhar in January 2015.
Moreover, a glance at the last year’s data reveals that Odisha is the only State among the BIMARU (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh) States to have recorded most epidemic outbreaks in 2014 and figured sixth nationally led by Maharashtra.
However, a heartening fact for Odisha is that malaria is no more an epidemic in Odisha as it is for Maharashtra now. But the worrying fact is that acute diarrhoea is growing with epidemic proportion in Odisha as last year it recorded the fourth most outbreak of diarrhoeal epidemic cases in the country. The grip of waterborne disease on Odisha is well-amplified by the lone dysentery outbreak it had in the country last year. Similarly, Odisha recorded the second most cholera outbreaks in the country after West Bengal. It is also observed that food poisoning has emerged as a major outbreak in Odisha since 2010.
In addition, the trend observed is some preventable diseases like chickenpox and measles too had a conspicuous share in disease outbreaks in Odisha last year. And the catch here is these two diseases occur in months of February to April. The season has just begun, but there has been no district-level health official meeting so far in the concerned districts that were affected last year. Moreover, most people in the districts still have blind beliefs about the origin of the two diseases. Health experts are of the view that since the weather during February-April is
conducive for the chickenpox virus varicella-zoster and measles virus to thrive, the district health authorities have not only to disseminate information to people and doctors about the symptoms for early detection but also have to initiate such public health measures to prevent its spread as it has the potential to affect brain if not treated early.
Cattle ailment anthrax is another disease whose outbreak in the State has been seen consistently for years especially in the tribal districts. last year, Odisha recorded five outbreaks of this bacterial disease. More so, Odisha recorded the most number of anthrax outbreaks in the country last year.
The fact of the matter is such identified epidemic-prone diseases strike the State consistently for years, but the district health administration never paid any attention to prevent their recurrence. The laidback attitude of State Government also looks more evident as no blueprint has been envisaged even at the top level, allege organisations working in health sector.