The death toll from a diarrhoea outbreak in Gurla mandal of Vizianagaram district in Andhra Pradesh, reached 7 on Friday.
The victims include 65-year-old Patiwada Suramma, who died this morning while six more people died between October 13-17.
As many as 140 people have been hospitalized over the last few days including in Cheepurupally Regional Hospital, Vizianagaram Sarvajan Hospital and Visakha KGH and some were shifted to a medical camp set up in the village.
AP government takes measures to contain outbreak:
Officials of the state government have implemented some measures to contain the outbreak. These measures include the closure of open borewells in the village as health officials determined contaminated water was the reason for the spread of the disease.
Rural Water Supply department official Uma Shankar told a newspaper that water samples collected from five borewells were sent to laboratories for testing and the reports are expected in a few days.
Purified water cans will be sent to all households in the area and a special sanitation drive has also been taken up. Bleaching powder packets have also been supplied to purify water at homes. As a preventative step, all meat and fish shops in the nearby area were ordered to be closed.
District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO), Bhaskar Rao said that the patients were advised not to go home yet as they need to be under observation. “As it is a communicable disease, patients could potentially spread it.”
Meanwhile, BR Ambedkar district collector has sent a report to the state government, detailing steps taken to bring the village back to normalcy.
