Dahod district on alert over suspected Chandipura cases

Vadodara: With four suspected cases of Chandipura virus infections being reported in the district, the Dahod district health department has gone on a major drive to check houses with mud or dung plasters. Dusting with disinfectants has also been taken up on a large scale by the department.
The four suspected cases had come to light in four different villages in the district. The children who are suspected to be carrying the viral infection are between four to nine years in age. Their blood samples as well as those of 21 others from the localities that the children lived in have been sent to the National Institute of Virology at Pune.
The major drive by the health department has so far covered around 13lakh kutcha houses in the district. Several houses were plastered using mud by the department and disinfectant powder has been sprayed on over 31,000 houses.
Sources said that the district administration is taking no chances as the district has witnessed deaths of children due to Chandipura virus outbreak in the past.