By Sandeep Mishra
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Dec 20: The mystery disease that has claimed the lives of 14 children in tribal dominated Malkangiri is giving sleepless nights to medical researchers here as the source of the disease has not been ascertained despite the efforts of the health department and the research institutes.
The disease had taken the form of an epidemic in a few tribal pockets of Malkangiri in the last week of November and had killed at least 14 children under the age of five in just a week.
After ground-level health workers failed to detect the cause of the disease, the Regional Medical Research Center (RMRC) intervene and conducted various tests to check for indications of Japanese encephalitis, dengue, herpes simplex and other deadly viruses, but found nothing.
Recently, the state health department collected a few blood and spinal fluid samples and sent it to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for further investigation of the source of the disease. However, all the tests done by the apex laboratory were found to be negative, including those for Chandipura, West Nile, and Nipa viruses.
“About 15 children were affected by the unknown virus. Of them only one survived. After conducting tests on the survivor, we found herpes simplex and we suspected that the same virus might affected the deceased. However, we were proved wrong after testing more affected children,” said RMRC director Shantanu Kar.
A similar situation had occurred twice before in the state, once in Malkangiri in 2012 and in Keonjhar in 2013, according to sources. The outbreak of the disease in Malkangiri in 2012 was proven to be Japanese encephalitis while the source of the disease in Keonjhar has remained unidentified till now.
Dr Kar told Orissa POST that their team will intensify research activities till they ascertain the cause of the disease. “We have sent our researchers with collected samples to the laboratory in Pune once again and we will surely found out the source of the disease soon,” said the director.
