Dr Jainul Khatri, Kutch CDHO, said there
are no deaths so far but 11 have been hospitalised and restrictions have been
placed over selling street food
Mandvi, the Kutch district’s coastal town
in Gujarat was declared a cholera-epidemic zone Wednesday evening after a
person with symptoms like diarrhoea and vomiting was confirmed to be the index
case while almost a dozen people were hospitalised.
The news came days after a cholera
outbreak was confirmed in central Gujarat’s Anand town early this week and two
children were suspected to have died of cholera in Rajkot.
Stating
that Mandvi was declared a cholera epidemic zone even though only one confirmed
case was reported, Amit Arora, collector of Kutch told The
Indian Express that World Health Organisation (WHO) protocol
demands that the area has to be declared an epidemic zone even if there is only
one case.
Claiming that there has been no deaths as
of yet, “Total 11 patients are undergoing treatment in various hospitals in
Mandvi” for cholera, said Dr Jainul Khatri, in-charge chief district health
officer (CDHO) of Kutch.
“Following the confirmation of the
outbreak, restrictions have been imposed on selling sliced fruits, stale food
etc and water is being chlorinated,” Khatri said.
Cholera is caused by vibrio cholera
bacteria which spread mainly through ingestion of contaminated water and food.
Vinod Goklani, Mandvi’s mamlatdar
(tehsildar) has been appointed as the epidemic control authority for the
epidemic zone.
While water drawn from various parts of the
town are sent for testing, “25 teams of the health department are going
door-to-door for surveillance,” said Goklani, adding that the restrictions will
remain for a month.
While there has been no secondary
case registered, Dr Kailashpati Paswan, Mandvi taluka health officer, has
negated the possibility of person-to-person transmission through faecal-oral
contamination
Known for its serene sea beach and
Vijay Vilas Palace, the Gujarat government has been promoting Mandvi as a
tourist destination, highlighting its sea beach with water-sports.
Also
known for its industry of constructing dhows or country craft, Mandvi, a port
town, is also famous for its Kutchi dabeli, a fast-food locally called
double-roti which is basically a sliced pav bun bread with a paste of boiled,
mashed potatoes mixed with spices as stuffing.
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