ROURKELA: The diarrhoea outbreak in Rourkela city that has claimed eight lives so far seems to have been majorly caused by vibrio cholerae bacterium. Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) commissioner Subhankar Mohapatra said reports of rectal swab samples of around 39 patients were received on Monday of which 18 were positive for vibrio cholerae (Cholera), 10 E coli and the rest 11 non-specific infections.
He said the report did not mention any specific strain of the vibrio cholerae and further investigation would be conducted by the state health authorities. Both vibrio cholerae and E coli infections are caused by contaminated food or water. Mohapatra claimed the trend of hospitalisation is reducing and there is improvement in the severity of symptoms of serious patients.
He hoped that the outbreak would be controlled in a couple of days. The food safety wing of RMC has been conducting surprise checks to ensure food safety, while the WATCO is ensuring the quality of the drinking water supply, he said. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday directed Principal Secretary of Housing and Urban Development G Mathi Vathanan and Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Shalini Pandit to visit Rourkela and take stock of the situation.
The chief minister reviewed the situation with the officials and asked both urban and health departments to initiate immediate steps to contain the spread of the disease. Director of Public Health Dr Niranjan Mishra and Director of Health Services Dr Bijay Mohapatra will accompany the secretaries and monitor the treatment of patients admitted to hospitals.
On Tuesday, the cumulative hospital admissions stood at around 580 including the majority 429 from Rourkela and the rest from rural pockets of Sundargarh district. As of now, 287 patients are undergoing treatment at different hospitals including 136 at RGH while 244 have returned home cured.
A special team led by the Panposh sub-collector has detected leakages in drinking water supply pipelines at around four dozen points. Mohapatra said over the last couple of days, leakages have been repaired at 47 locations. Water quality of all treatment plants, intake reservoirs and other facilities of WATCO is being maintained. ‘Jal Sathis’ have also been instructed to ensure the testing of water samples from different points, he said.