By IANS
Bhubaneswar : An outbreak of diarrhoea has killed at least 43 people in Orisssa’s Rayagada district over the past one-and-a-half months with many still suffering from the disease, health officials said Friday.
People in the region are suffering after drinking contaminated water from local streams and ponds, which have been polluted in the recent floods. They are also eating food such as rotten meat and seasonal mushrooms, Jatadhari Mallik, an officer of the district health department told IANS.
“While diarrhoea has spread to at least 26 villages under 11 village panchayats of the district, seven deaths, the highest in the area have been reported from three villages under the Maikancha panchayat,” he said.
Raygada district health officials have rushed to the villages to treat the patients, he said. At least 60 people from different villages are undergoing treatment at present.
The district administration has also opened free kitchens in some affected villages to provide the villagers with hygienic food, Mallik said.