Tribune News Service

Panchkula, July 15

The local Health Department today declared that vibrio cholerae bacteria was found in 16 of the 18 stool samples taken from Abheypur and Budhanpur villages where more and more patients continue to fell ill due to consumption of contaminated water. Confirming the same, Civil Surgeon Dr Mukta Kumar said the results of water samples sent to a laboratory at Ramgarh were awaited.

Meanwhile, the number of suspected cases reported from the two affected villages has gone up significantly and reached 179. At least 56 cases were reported at a health camp organised by the Health Department in the affected areas. Health officials said they were managed on site and sent home with medication.

Special ward at Civil Hospital

• After a heavy inflow of suspected patients, the Civil Hospital has set up a special ward by using beds which were reserved for children for a possible third wave of Covid-19
• Two staff nurses and a paediatrician have been dedicated to the care of such patients, health officials said

They added that so far, at least 123 persons had sought treatment at the Civil Hospital in Sector 6. Of these patients, as many as 65 had to be hospitalised and 46 were children. A nine-year-old boy from Abheypur, identified as Arpit, is the lone fatality so far.

Civil Surgeon Dr Mukta Kumar, who addressed a press conference on the matter today, said she inspected the affected areas and found the outbreak to be a result of poor housing and sanitary conditions.

“There are pits filled with dirty water everywhere in the affected areas. I found sewers open and water storage tanks built at ground level with no regular disinfection. Dirty water from overflowing sewer lines goes into the ground and eventually reaches the drinking water pipeline,” she said. The Health Department is conducting a door-to-door survey in the villages.