At a time when the death of seven persons due to cholera in Rayagada district’s Kashipur block has hogged headlines, reports of one death due to suspected diarrhoea at Chikamba in Koraput district has created panic among the villagers.
A person died due to suspected diarrhoea at Chikamba on Wednesday while 10 other affected persons have been admitted to hospitals for treatment. While six affected have been admitted to the Giriligumma Primary Health Centre (PHC), four are undergoing treatment at the local Community Health Centre (CHC), said an official.
On Tuesday evening, Rayagada district Collector Swadha Dev Singh had confirmed that seven people have died of cholera and about 100 others have been affected by the water-borne disease in Kashipur.
Quoting a report of the ICMR Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) Bhubaneswar, the Collector said, “Initially, we were suspecting it to be diarrhoea. But later, it came to the fore that people might have been infected to cholera as well. They died as they could not get proper medical attention on time.”
Official sources said three out of the nine samples of rectal swabs of patients in the district were found to have presence of the vibrio cholerae bacteria.
Rayagada Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) Dr Lalmohan Routray also confirmed that the disease was spreading from contaminated water.