laboratory tests of rectal swabs collected from patients in Narla block of Kalahandi district have confirmed the presence of deadly ‘vibrio cholerae’ in them.
Three persons have already died of cholera in the interior areas of Narla block in the last 15 days. They were an elderly woman and two children.
The district administration had sent rectal swabs of some patients to Bhubaneswar for laboratory tests after conditions of around 120 persons afflicted with gastro enteritis turned serious between August 20 and September 5.
The suspicion that the deadly waterborne bacteria has infected water sources in Narla block and its adjoining areas has led to panic among the local people, reports said.
However, instead of taking measures to disinfect the water sources to check the spread of the killer disease, the local Government officials are in the denial mode. They are trying their best to present the cholera deaths as cases of diarrhoea and gastro enteritis, thus adding to the panic, sources said.
It is to be noted that the ‘vibrio cholerae’ bacteria had claimed several precious lives in Koraput and Rayagada districts in recent years and proved to be fatal.