Mumbai, Jul 13 (IANS): In a major public health concern, cholera outbreak has been reported from Maharashtra's Amravati district, affecting 181 people and claiming five lives in four villages in the past one week, health officials said here on Wednesday.
Besides, the state's second case of the vector-borne Zika virus has been reported in a minor girl in an Ashram School at Jhai village of Talasari block of Palghar district.
These are stated to be a fallout of the torrential rains that the two districts have experienced in the past fortnight.
The outbreak of Cholera has been reported from three villages in Chikhaldhara block -- Dongri, Koylari and Ghana, plus Amravati block's Nayaakola village.
"Until now, 181 patients have been diagnosed and five have lost their lives to the disease," said a state government official.
The victims include 3 men and three women, including senior citizens aged above 70 and the rest between the age group of 24-40.
In Palghar, a 7-year-old girl has been afflicted by the Zika virus, sending the health officials in a tizzy.
This is only the second case of Zika virus in the state after the first patient was detected in Pune in July 2021.
The health department is carrying out epidemiological surveillance on a war-footing in different vulnerable areas lashed by the downpour.
Medical teams have been deployed for round-the-clock monitoring in the cholera-hit villages, and all efforts are on for the prevention and control, while a state-level medical squad is camping there to investigate the outbreak and provide suitable guidance on further spread.
This includes water quality monitoring, patient surveillance, management and treatment, health awareness drives, etc, besides the Additional Health Secretary, Amravati Collector, Chief Executive Officer and others reviewing the situation regularly.
In Palghar, the administration has ordered preventive and control measures in terms of surveillance, Vector management, treatment and awareness efforts with the detection of the Zika virus case.