Rourkela Battles Diarrhoea Surge: 5 Dead, 116 Hospitalized in 3 days; Teams Race to Curb Outbreak

Rourkela: A worrying spike in diarrhoea cases has gripped Rourkela, claiming five lives and sending 116 individuals to Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH) in the past three days. Officials are locked in a desperate struggle to determine the cause and stem the tide of the disease.

With patient numbers surging past 100, the RGH Superintendent has swiftly established dedicated wards and bolstered bed capacity. Diarrhoea cases began spiking on December 10th, concentrated in five hotspots: Daily Market, Nala Road, Kishan Tola, and Udit Nagar.

To combat the outbreak, Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) has deployed six rapid response teams tasked with onsite treatment, situation assessment, and medicine distribution. However, the exact cause remains elusive despite testing food and water samples. Water analysis revealed low chlorine levels, but no overt contamination has been identified.

City Health Officer Sushil Kumar Parida assured that further water samples are being collected for microbiological testing, stressing that the current situation doesn’t constitute an epidemic. Rourkela MLA and Labour Minister Sarada Nayak expressed confidence in swiftly containing the spread, commending the tireless efforts of experts investigating the outbreak.