Unidentifed illnesses kill at least 10 in Orissa - malaria, dysentery, ARI, measles?

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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/health/2011-05/16/c_13877689.htm


Unknown disease kills 16 in eastern Indian state Orissa

English.news.cn 2011-05-16 21:24:18 FeedbackPrintRSS


NEW DELHI, May 16 (Xinhua) -- An unknown disease has struck some villages in eastern Indian state Orissa's Malkangiri district killing at least 16 persons, including 14 children, over the last 10 days, reported the Press Trust of India on Monday.

The report quoted medical officers as saying a medical team has rushed to the area to take stock of the situation.

As the victims are afflicted with lumps on mouth and other parts of the body, the symptoms indicated that the disease could be Anthrax or malnutrition, according to the report.

The area is inaccessible and only link to the place is motor- launch across the Balimela reservoir. In the absence of medical care in the area, people mostly depend upon quacks and herbal treatment of diseases, according to the report.

 

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Re: Unidentifed illness kills 16 in Orissa

Re: Unidentifed illness kills 16 in Orissa

The symptomatic description is crude, but anthrax is common in Orissa. Chandipura virus should also be investigated given the location and predominance of illness in children.

If the speculation is anthrax or malnutrition, the symptomatic description might be incorrect.

http://www.sify.com/news/16-die-of-unknown-disease-in-orissa-news-national-lfqs4dcibci.html

16 die of unknown disease in Orissa

2011-05-16 18:30:00
Last Updated: 2011-05-16 18:35:14

Malkangiri: An unknown disease has struck some villages in Orissa's Malkangiri district killing at least 16 persons, including 14 children, over the last 10 days, official sources said today. The victims belonged to Taberu and some nearby villages under Kudumuluguma block.

Chief district medical officer (CDMO) of Malkangiri, C H Pravakar said a medical team from Chitrakonda has rushed to the area to take stock of the situation.

As the victims are afflicted with lumps on mouth and other parts of the body, Pravakar said the symptoms indicated that the disease could be Anthrax or malnutrition.

The area is inaccessible and only link to the place is motor-launch across the Balimela reservoir, he said.

In the absence of medical care in the area, people mostly depend upon quacks and herbal treatment of diseases.

"The disease is suspected to have originated from nearby villages located in Andhra Pradesh and spread to bordering areas in Orissa," Prabhakar said, adding "We will be able to give details only after obtaining a report from the team".

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Unidentifed illness kills 16 in Orissa

Re: Unidentifed illness kills 16 in Orissa

Children's deaths: health team rushed to village
Staff Reporter



16 children have reportedly died in the past few days at Taberu of Malkangiri district

Family Planning director leaving for the village today

It will take at least 48 hours to reach information to district headquarters, say reports


BHUBANESWAR: The State government on Monday galvanised its health administration to reach Taberu, an extremely remote village in Malakanagiri district, where about 16 children were alleged to have died during the past few days.

After chairing a stock-taking meeting on reported spate of deaths in the remote region, Health and Family Welfare Minister Prasanna Acharya said the director of Family Planning would make a move to Malkanagiri district for monitoring the situation on Tuesday.

?However, an eight-member team from Malkanagiir district has already left for Taberu village in the morning. The team comprising two medical officers, pharmacists and health workers will travel through difficult terrain during the day,? Mr. Acharya said.

The Health Minister said, ?although immediate reasons for the death were not yet known, preliminary report suggests signs of summer rash, fever and belly swelling. In fact, last month (April), death of three children and two adults was reported from the village.?
Five deaths were in fact reported when a health worker had visited the village during the last week of April.

Measles cases?

On allegations that the deaths were due to measles, Mr. Acharya said, ?first dose of measles, according to Chief District Medical Officer of Malakangiri, was administered in the village, but second dose could not be given. Now since it is an affected region, we cannot give the second dose.?

Director of Family Planning, R. K. Ghose, who was CDMO of Malkangiri, accompanied by a senior health official would leave for the district on Tuesday.

Reports from Malkanagiri said information about actual position in Taberu, which is situated in the cut-off region, would take at least 48 hours to reach the district headquarters.

?The medical team will travel 60 km by boat and walk down through 15-km stretch of dense forest to reach Taberu. We had received unconfirmed reports of death on May 13. Left wing extremists had called bandh next day. On May 15 which was a Sunday, boat was not available to access the region,? said Malkanagiri CDMO C. S. Prabhakar. The Health Minister here said a village named Doraguda in bordering Andhra Pradesh was also reported to be affected.

http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/17/stories/2011051754740300.htm

 

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Re: Unidentifed illness kills 16 in Orissa

Re: Unidentifed illness kills 16 in Orissa

http://www.newspolitan.com/forum/art/india/health/GI5TMMR3GE4UCVCT

State rushes team to Malkangiri village (3 Views)
Express Buzz - ‎ 5 hrs 41min ago

BHUBANESWAR: The State government on Monday rushed an eight-member team to Tabiru, a Malkangiri village located on the borders of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, after reports of over a dozen children falling victim to suspected measles. The government also asked the Director of Family Planning to camp in the district to monitor the situation.

 

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Re: Unidentifed illnesses kill at least 10 in Orissa - malaria, dysentery, ARI, measles?

http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/18/stories/2011051858590300.htm

State confirms 10 deaths of children in Malkangiri



Staff Reporter







BHUBANESWAR: The State government here on Tuesday confirmed death of about eight children in Taberu village, a remote village in the cut-off region of Malkangiri district, within a month period.

The Health and Family Welfare Department, however, dismissed the allegations that children died from measles.

The first medical team, which was rushed to the affected village on Monday, returned on Tuesday. According to the State health control room report, ?between April 17 and May 13 this year, as many as 10 persons have died in Taberu village and of total victims, eight are children in the age group of one to four years.?

?Preliminary symptoms suggested that most of the victims died due to acute respiratory infection, high fever and dysentery. Necessary medicines were administered to 29 other affected persons in the village,? said C. S. Prabhakar, Chief District Medical Officer of Malkangiri, over phone.

Dr. Prabhakar said two health workers were stationed there to keep watch on the situation and instructed to communicate to headquarters as earliest possible in the event of emergency.

Taberu, which is situated close to Andhra Pradesh border in the cut-off region of Malkangiri district, is an extremely remote area.

One has to travel 60 km by boat on a dangerous water route and trek 15 km dense forested hilly area to reach Taberu.

The medical team had left for the village on Monday morning and came back to mainland on Tuesday afternoon.

The village has 62 families with total population enumerated to be around 250. Accessing safe drinking water is a dream for its inhabitants.

?Villagers collect water for drinking water by digging shallow well. This could be the main reason behind high rate of fever and other infections.

Five persons tested Malaria positive in the check-up conducted by medical team that went there,? said Malkangiri CDMO.

Dr. Prabhakar said situation was under control and residents were advised to stay clean for preventing spread of any infection

 

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Re: Unidentifed illnesses kill at least 10 in Orissa - malaria, dysentery, ARI, measles?

http://www.orissatv.com/NewsDetail.asp?newsId=NS41683

Cut-off area of Malkangiri in diarrhoea grip Source : OdishaTV Bureau
published on : 5/17/2011 10:47:00 PM E-mail to Friend | Print This News

Bhubaneswar: The cut-off areas in Malkangiri hit the headlines some months ago after the abduction of then district collector R Vineel Krishna. Now, one such village is in news as people are dying of diarrhoea due to absence of medical facilities.

As per government figures, at least 10 people have died in diarrhoea-affected Taberu village under Kudimullugumma block in Malkangiri. However, unofficial figures put the numbers above 15.

The intense heatwave across the state has made the outbreak more complex. Villagers complain of skin irritation, inflammation accompanied with nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

?One of my family members died of diarrhoea. Initially, he had fever, headache along with diarrhoea and later succumbed,? a villager said.

?The affected villagers complained of headache, stomach ache and fever. Around 15-16 persons have died of diarrhoea in our village,? a villager said.

There are two PHCs (Primary Health Centres) for 151 villages under seven panchayats to cater to medical requirements, but it seems to be too little.

OTV team embarked on a visit to the affected village to take stock of the situation. The crew took a 70 km water route from Chitrakonda to Jantri village. From there, the members trekked for 13 kms to reach the affected village?Taberu.

The ground realities were distressing as poor villagers were left in lurch due to lack of basic medical facilities.

As soon as the news spread, the district administration dispatched a medical team to assess the situation. After preliminary investigation, the paramedical staff attributed the outbreak to intake of contaminated water and steep rise in temperature.

?In the last one month, around 10 people have died of diarrhoea. Now, the situation is under control. Around 30 people are under treatment. They are being treated for malaria and respiratory tract infection,? Chitrokonda hospital staff, Dr Kshirod Mohanta said.

Meanwhile, around 30 persons are receiving treatment and two health officials have been stationed at the village to deliver services. In addition to this, more staff would be sent to Taberu, if need be, the government sources said.

?Some people were affected with respiratory diseases. Some had boils due to rise in temperature. We have stationed two health workers to keep a watch on the situation,? Malkangiri CDMO, Dr Pravakar Rao said.

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Unidentifed illnesses kill at least 10 in Orissa - malaria, dysentery, ARI, measles?

ProMED RFI and comment based on report 1;

Anthrax is infrequent in children, even rare, if for no other reason than that they are rarely occupationally exposed as are adults; note that 14/16 were children. And "mouth lumps" are not the usual cutaneous lesion. Oropharyngeal anthrax is severe and usually lethal for humans but that is not the same as lumps on the mouth. The disease is regularly seen in humans and cattle in Orissa. Malnutrition would add to the susceptibility and the probability of butchering a sick/dead animal with anthrax. But in this instance I must doubt the validity of the preliminary diagnosis.

Balimela and the Balimela Reservoir can be seen on the HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map at http://healthmap.org/r/0Q*C. - Mod.MHJ

I've sent the link to this thread and some snippets in response - Ro

 

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Re: Unidentifed illnesses kill at least 10 in Orissa - malaria, dysentery, ARI, measles?

The ProMED post was here:

http://www.promedmail.org/pls/apex/..._BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,88488

It appears that the medical team that reached the area (posts #5 and 6) determined that the symptomatic description was not accurate, and the deaths were due to several causes, primarily diarrhea.

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Unidentifed illnesses kill at least 10 in Orissa - malaria, dysentery, ARI, measles?

10 deaths in one month, 29 more Ill
BHUBANESWAR: At least eight children and two adults have died in a month in Tabiru village of Malkangiri. Preliminary reports rule out measles as the cause of the deaths. Most of the children suffered from acute respiratory infection, secondary skin infection, diarrhoeal tendencies and fever. All the 10 deaths occurred between April 17 and May 13. The children were in the age group of one to four. One of the adults was a 70-year-old man while the other was a 22-year-old woman. Besides, another 29 were found to have developed illness, according to the first reports emerging from the cut-off areas on Tuesday. The eight-member medical team, which was rushed to Tabiru, located across Balimela reservoir on the Orissa-Andhra Pradesh border, reached the village on Monday afternoon. Sources in the Health Department said, the team provided treatment to the 29, most of whom are children. The report suggested that three children died in April, while May so far has reported five deaths. Of the two adults, the man died of old age while the woman had liver problems. ?We have deployed a medical team in the village and health workers are now camping at Tabiru,? State Disease Surveillance Officer Bikash Patnaik said. While most of the 29 persons are affected by the multiple ailments, five have tested positive for malaria. In fact, the village lacks in drinking water supply from a safe source. The tribal inhabitants depend on shallow wells which could be infected. A village in the neighbourhood of Tabiru too had reported similar deaths.

http://www.welcomeorissa.com/orissa_news.php?opt=view&id=31832&