HYDERABAD: They may have escaped violence back home, but Rohingya Muslims live in equally distressing conditions in refugee camps around the world, including Hyderabad. Express visited the camp in Balapur and found most of the refugees living in fear of picking up the mysterious fever that has been spreading across the camp.
Express reported on Thursday that several people in the camp had taken sick, with fever, joint pain and rashes. Inmates are worried because the mystery disease is yet to be identified — suspicions are that it could be Dengue, Malaria or Chikungunya — and some pregnant women too have started developing symptoms. Two weeks ago, Fathima, a 20-year-old pregnant woman, died of fever in the camp.
Speaking to Express, Khursheed Begum, who is also pregnant, said she was also suffering from multiple bouts of fever over the last one month. On Thursday, the Health Department conducted a mega medical camp for refugees to identify the disease. They have collected blood and serum samples from 41 people in the camp.
Inmates say that at least 100 people have fallen sick in the last one month. A doctor consultation has been planned for them on Friday, after which number of tests conducted is likely to increase. So far, six of the cases have been identified as Typhoid. Officials are now mulling measures to control the disease outbreak.
“Apart from blood and serum, we have also collected water samples from the premises and sent them to Central Diagnostics Laboratory. Tests will be conducted for Dengue, Malaria and Chikungunya, and results are expected over the next couple of days,” said Dr P Vikram Kumar, joint director of Epidemics Cell.
Experts say a lot of the infections in the camp have to do with the unhygienic conditions under which they are lodged. Sewage water was found to be flowing freely on the roads leading to the camps, forming little puddles, ideal breeding grounds for virus-carrying mosquitoes.
Dr Vikram Kumar confirmed that some inmates had developed scabies due to the poor sanitation at camps. Anti-larval operations are being carried out but its effectiveness is anybody’s guess.