Over 50 affected as Cholera outbreak hits villages in Sonepur & Brahmagiri

Sonepur: More than 50 people have been taken ill following outbreak of Cholera at different villages in Sonepur and cyclone Fani-hit Brahmagiri of Puri district.

According to sources, dozens of people complained of stomach pain and later showed symptoms of vomiting and dysentery at Janmura village in Sonepur district on Wednesday. At least 23 of them including five children were admitted to district headquarters hospital as their condition worsened.

Several others reportedly stayed back in the village after taking medicines from private firms.
Due to unavailability of space in the DHH, the patients were treated with saline and antibiotics on the verandah of the hospital.

Although the exact reason behind the outbreak of the infection is yet to be ascertained, villagers suspect that use of contaminated water from open water source like ponds and wells in the village has led to the incident.

Villagers have appealed the hospital and district health authorities to send a mobile health team for assessment of the situation at the village. But till the last reports came in, the health officials had not reached the village to take stock of the situation.

"We think the infection might have spread from use of open contaminated water. As people complained of uneasiness, we shifted them to the hospital for treatment. Till now, the doctors have already administered over a dozen saline bottles to most of them," said a relative of a patient.

Similarly, in cyclone Fani-hit villages of Jagannathpur, Sishupur, Brahmagiri, Barudi, Mathapatna, Mata under Brahmagiri block, several persons have reportedly been infected with Cholera. It is suspected that due to unavailability of clean drinking water in the wake of cyclone, Cholera outbreak has now gripped the area.

As many as six persons infected with the disease were admitted to Rebana Nuagaon CHC. All of them were released after treatment at the hospital. Earlier on Wednesday, at least 15 persons of Kushupur, Balabhadrapatna, Krushnasaranpur, Kadajita and Arakhakuda villages were admitted to the hospital for treatment of Cholera.