The Cholera claimed five lives in four villages of Amravati district in eastern Maharashtra, even as the state health authorities on Wednesday confirmed the second case of the Vector-borne Zika Virus in Maharashtra.
In its daily medical bulletin, the State Public Health department said that there was an outbreak of cholera in two taluks of Amravati district since July 7. “There is an outbreak in three villages --Dongri, Koylari and Ghana -- in Chikhaldara block and Naya village in Amaravati block. Until now, 181 patients have been diagnosed and 5 of them have died”.
Of those who succumbed to cholera, two were women, while three others were men. The three of the deceased were in the age group 24 to 40 years, while two were over 70 years old.
Following the outbreak, medical teams are working round the clock in outbreak-affected villages and efforts for prevention and control in terms of water quality monitoring, patient surveillance, management and treatment, and health awareness are underway.
“The state has lately been affected by heavy rainfall. Against this background, epidemiological surveillance is being carried out on war footing,” the medical bulletin said.
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.
A state-level squad is currently in Amravati district to investigate the outbreak and provide appropriate guidance. Additional Health Secretary (Public Health) reviewed the outbreak situation in detail and necessary instructions have been given regarding the outbreak control to the District Collector and Chief Executive Officer of Amaravati district administration.
Meanwhile, the second Zika case has been reported in Maharashtra. As per the latest report from the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV), a 7-year-old girl in the Ashramshala at Jhai in Talasari taluka of Palghar district was found to be infected with Zika virus.
Prior to this, the first ever patient was found in Pune in July 2021.
Accordingly, preventive and control measures in terms of surveillance, Vector management, treatment and health education efforts are being taken.
In a related development, 2,575 fresh cases of Covid-19 were reported from different parts of Maharashtra on Wednesday, even as the pandemic claimed 10 lives in the state.
With 2,575 fresh cases, the daily Covid-19 cases rose from 2435 to 2,575, taking the total number of cases in the state from 80,07,648 to 80,10,223
Similarly with ten fresh Covid-19 deaths reported during the day, the total number of deaths registered in the state since the outbreak of Covid-19 in the state in March 2020 rose from 1,47,991 to 1,48,001.
Of the total 4,255 fresh cases reported in the state, Mumbai accounted for 383 positive cases, taking the total number of cases reported in the metropolis since outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020 to 11, 19,833. The metropolis recorded one Covid-19 deaths taking the total number of deaths in the metropolis from 19,625. The authorities pegged the overall growth rate of Covid-19 cases during the period from July 6 to July 12 at 0.041 per cent.
As 3,219 Covid-19 patients were discharged from the hospitals across the state after full recovery, the total number of people discharged from the hospitals since the second week of March 2020 increased from 78,42,090 to 78,45,300. The recovery rate in the state rose from 97.93 per cent to 97.94 per cent.
The number of “active cases” in the state dropped from 17,567 to 16,922. The fatality rate in the state stood static at 1.84 per cent.
The active cases in Mumbai dropped from 3318 to 3006. The active cases in Thane went down from 1947 to 1,700, while the active cases in Pune dropped from 6411 to 6,222. The active cases in Raigad district dropped from 678 to 594, while the active cases in Palghar went down from 306 to 294.
Of the 8,24,81,808 samples sent to various laboratories across the state so far,80,10,223 have tested positive (9.71 per cent) for COVID-19 until Wednesday.
