Diarrhoea strikes hunger zone, 38 dead

Orissa health minister Prasanna Acharya and health secretary Aun Garg will take stock of the situation in Kalahandi, one of the country’s hunger zones, on Wednesday after a diarrhoea outbreak claimed 38 lives in the region in the past one month.

The official toll is 26. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik said on Tuesday all health officials had been put on alert.

An 18-member National Institute of Communicable Disease team is in Kalahandi to survey medical facilities. “We are in touch with local health officials and are monitoring developments,” Acharya said, adding that 22 medical teams and three mobile teams were sent to the area. He said the government had asked health officials to give Rs200 to patients who have recovered.