Malkangiri: After wreaking havoc in this district, dreaded Japanese Encephalitis (JE) has now extended its tentacles to neighbouring Chhattisgarh with a three-year-old girl of Girilikhunda under Sukma district dying of the disease at the district headquarters hospital here Friday.
On the other hand there was no let up in the death toll as another boy Friday died in this district. While the girl from Chhattisgarh was identified as Bharati Nag, daughter of Laxman Nag, the victim in this district was Muna Sagadia, the four-year-old son of Roopdhar Sagadia, of Gomphakonda village under Kalimela block.
Asit Padia (4), son of Dula Padiami of Namkonda village under Korukonda block, was Thursday admitted to the DHH but he died within two hours, it was learnt.
The district administration has put the death toll at 59 excluding the death of the Chhattisgarh child, while unofficial sources claim 64 children have died.
“The health officials of Sukma district have been informed about the JE death,” additional district medical officer Dr Kalyan Sarkar said.
According to reports, a total of seven children are undergoing treatment at the DHH. While two have been placed in the ICU, three are in the JE ward and two others have been kept in the paediatrics ward of the hospital.
Meanwhile, a six-member Central team led by Dr Kalpana Baruah, the deputy director of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme,
arrived at Malkangiri Thursday night to take stock of situation.
The team first visited the DHH and spoke to the authorities about the condition of the JE-affected patients. Later, the members went to two severely affected villages – Palkonda in Korukonda block and Koimetla in Kalimela block – to review the measures taken by the administration to check the spread of the disease and know the status of pigs in the area.
Other members of the team were MHMC advisor (Paediatrics) Dr B Patra, NCDC joint director (Epidemiology) Dr Akash Srivastav, assistant director (Microbiology) Dr Mayur Rani, Dr Sushama Choudhury and Dr Debadutta Bhattacharya of RMRC-Bhubaneswar. CDMO Dr Uday Shankar Mishra accompanied the team during the visit. PNN
