Anthrax outbreaks in Orissa

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Source: http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=9&theme=&usrsess=1&id=248138

Anthrax outbreak suspected in Rayagada, four dead

Statesman News Service
RAYAGADA, March 24: At least four people have died of suspected Anthrax and many others seriously afflicted in a couple of weeks at Chancharaguda area under Bissamcuttack block of Rayagada district.
The exact number of the victims has not yet been ascertained as the tribal people usually prefer disari (a traditional village doctor) to professional doctors, and any case of death while under treatment with the disaris remain unreported, sources said.
Consumption of stale meet is said to be the primary reason behind outbreak of the disease, which had claimed many lives in the same region last year too.
This time, the matter has come to the fore after some conscious people brought the matter to the notice of the personnel of the nearest PHC.
A medical team was immediately rushed to the area. The patients were treated and blood samples were collected.
The medical officials were informed about the death of Mari Ullaka (31), Triba Hikka, Peda Mellaka (30) and Haku Hikka (45).
Many others like Damodar Pupika, Kamiya Kadraka, Kanti Hikka, Sunil Pusika, Adi Hikka were checked by the health service personnel. Their condition is said to be out of danger. A 12-year old boy Ramesh Ullaka is reportedly undergoing treatment at Bissamcuttack Christian Hospital.
Dr Nabakishore Kundu of Bissamcuttack CHC opined that consumption of stale meat may be the prime reason.
?Lack of awareness mainly due to illiteracy is the biggest hindrance in providing treatment to the affected tribal people. We have been convincing them for health check up, but with little success," he said.
A social activist Mr Bishnu Sahu, however, alleged that lack of proper treatment at the government-hospitals force the tribal people to depend on disaris even for minor diseases.

 

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Re: Anthrax outbreaks in Orissa

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-Bondas-in-Malkangiri/articleshow/4663836.cms

Anthrax afflicts Bondas in Malkangiri
16 Jun 2009, 2202 hrs IST, Satyanarayan Pattnaik, TNN

KORAPUT: For the first time anthrax has struck Bondas, a primitive tribal group with a population of 10,000. Doctors said as many as 10 are down
with the disease at Andrahal village in Malkangiri district's Khairaput block. There is no report of deaths yet.

"Consumption of beef of an anthrax-afflicted cow has led to the outbreak. Our medical teams are regularly visiting the village for the past one week and treating them. But the problem is that they like to depend on their own primitive methods of treatment. So it takes a lot of persuasion and coaxing before they can be taken to hospital," said a Khairput hospital doctor.

A health official said Bondas are stranger to the disease and the symptoms. "They have no idea what kind of precautions need to be taken either," he added.

Another official said Andhrahal shares a boundary with Koraput's Lamtaput block, which is an anthrax-hit area. "Maybe, inflow of anthrax-afflicted cattle from Lamtaput to Andhrahal has spread the disease," he added.

Healthcare is virtually non-existent in the village. All it has is an Auxiliary Nursing Midwife centre. There is also a primary health centre and an ayurvedic dispensary at Mudulipada, about 13 km from Andrahal. "Since there is no doctor at Mudulipada, the centre is run by a pharmacist," a source said.

"An awareness drive should be launched to save the primitive tribe from the disease," the source said.

Medical officials, however, claimed that medical teams are visiting Bonda villages and distributing medicines. Bondas, one of the primitive tribes in Orissa, live in the Bonda hills which cover about 130 sq km in Mudulipada and Andrahal panchayats in Malkangiri.

A micro-project called Bonda Development Agency (BDA) has been in force since 1977 for the tribe the literacy rate of which is 7.8 per cent.

 

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Re: Anthrax outbreaks in Orissa

Source: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/099200906271451.htm

12 people affected by anthrax in Orissa

Rourkela (Orissa) (PTI): At least 12 people were suffering from anthrax after they ate raw beef at Pindapathar village in Sundergarh district of Orissa.

Of the affected, the condition of four, was stated to be critical at Sundergarh district headquarters hospital, official sources said.

The villagers fell ill after eating the flesh of the a dead cow last week, sources said.

A team of government doctors from the hospital and paramedics have set up camps in the villages of the area.

Door-to-door medical check-ups were being conducted and the tribals were being told not to eat raw meat of dead domestic animals.

A similar report of anthrax outbreak was reported three months ago at Kiralaga, Raipur and Suidih villages in the same block in which nine people contracted the disease, Dr R N Barla, a government doctor in the team, said.

 

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Re: Anthrax outbreaks in Orissa

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Three-more-anthrax-cases-detected-in-Orissa/483674

Three more anthrax cases detected in Orissa
Posted: Wednesday, Jul 01, 2009 at 1844 hrs IST



Three fresh anthrax cases were detected on Wednesday from Orissa's Sundargarh, barely a week after 12 people in the district tested positive for the disease, official sources said.

All the three -- Safia Kispatta (55) Prafulla Kispatta (30) and Graviel Ekka (50) -- hailed from Dhudinua village of the district, nearly 80 kms from Rourkela.

The patients were undergoing treatment at Balishankara primary health centre, the sources said, adding a medical team from the district headquarters has rushed to the village.

A similar report of anthrax outbreak was reported last week in Pindapathar village of the district, where 12 persons were found affected by the disease.

The tribals living in remote villages of the district, particularly in Subdega and Balishankara blocks, often consume meat of dead domestic animals, they said, adding an awareness campaign was launched among them.

 

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Re: Anthrax outbreaks in Orissa

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert_read.php?glide=EP-20100730-27222-IND

At least 25 people, including six women, and a child have fallen ill with suspected anthrax contracted from dead animals in Orissa's Sundergarh district, health official said Friday. The people found with the infection are residents of Dukatola village and its nearby hamlets, some 500 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, chief district medical officer Bikrant Kindo told IANS. 'All of them are responding to treatments and recovering,' he said. About two days ago two residents of the area came to the hospital with anthrax symptoms. 'We sent health officials to the area and found more people having the similar symptoms,' he said. Health officials including doctors are camping in the area and treating the patients at their homes, he said. Blood samples of at least five patients were sent Friday to the Veer Surendra Sai (VSS) Medical college and Hospital at Burla in Sambalpur district, Kindo said. Dukatola village and its nearby hamlets have a population of about 500 and most of them belong to Oraon tribe. Kindo said the villagers told them they had consumed the meat of dead animals recently. Anthrax is a bacterial disease that mostly affects animals and spreads to humans through consumption of contaminated meat. Kindo said the district has a history of anthrax infections.