Even as cholera resurfaces in Rayagada, a spree of recent deaths has put a question mark on the efficacy of health service s in the region.
While two deaths were reported from Ramnaguda block on Sunday, three more have come to light in Kalyansinghpur block now.
In Ramnaguda, a 35-year-old man and his 10-year-old son died on Sunday after suffering from diarrhoea related symptoms.
However, Chief District Medical Officer PK Das said the two died of food poisoning, not cholera.
“The symptoms were identical but the two suffered from food poisoning and cholera has nothing to do with it,” he claimed.
Barely 20 kilometres from Rayagada Sadar, in Kalyansinghpur’s Damlinga village, outbreak of severe diarrhoea has claimed three lives, two of them in last six days.
Three-year-old Kamrika Rajani and Nachika Kusuni (40) died last Thursday after suffering from severe diarrhoea while 60-year-old Prakash Akma died last month.
Sources in the district health office said since blood samples of the three were not collected, the cause of their death could be established though health services reached the village on Tuesday only.
A mobile health unit provided basic services in the villages where two out of four tube wells have been rendered dysfunctional.