Mystery disease kills four infants in Odisha's Malkangiri district

MALKANGIRI: At least four infants have died and as many were affected by an unknown disease at a village in Odisha's tribal-dominated Malkangiri district in the last five days, officials said today.

A medical team rushed to Siadimala village, around 10 km from here, after the death of infants aged between 3 and 6 months occurred since September 29, said Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO), Amarendra Mohanty.

The CDMO, who led the team to the village following instructions from district Collector K Sudarshan Chakravarthy, said blood samples collected from the area would be sent to Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) at Bhubaneswar for examination and diagnosis of the disease.

The affected children have shown signs of high temperature, vomiting and respiratory distress, he said.
Four infants with similar complaints have been admitted to the district headquarters hospital here.

Doctors have been camping in the village with adequate medicines to provide necessary treatment to the affected besides creating awareness among the villagers and asking them not to panic, he said.

Around 90 children had died in Malkangiri last year within a span of three months from suspected Japanese Encephalitis in the backward district.

Local MLA Manas Madkami visited the village and met family members of the deceased and affected children.