Cholera breaks out in Malakand village

35 patients have been confirmed so far

PESHAWAR:

Cholera outbreak has been reported in Agra – a far-flung and mountainous village in Malakand.

Talking to The Express Tribune a government official said that 35 cases have been reported in the village and after that medical teams have been dispatched on emergency basis to the area.

“The Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response Unit has alerted the District Health Officer (DHO) Malakand who has been ordered to take immediate steps to bring the situation under control and an initial report has been submitted about the outbreak,” he said.

“As per the report on June 2, in charge Category D Hospital Agra, Dr Tariq informed the DHO about a suspected case of cholera. He said that 10 people had been brought from Katoi Payan village in the night. He asked the DHO and assistant commissioner Malakanad to quickly take steps to control the outbreak. He requested rescue service and medicines for the village,” said the official, adding that after that a team was sent to the village under the leadership of deputy district health officer.

The team observed a large number of patients in the area and two serious patients were shifted to Batkhela Hospital for treatment.

The experts discovered that local residents have to drink water from natural streams and contaminated water is the main cause of the outbreak.

An emergency centre has been established in the village and qualified and experienced staff has been deployed who have sufficient stock of medicines.

“Water samples have been taken and sent to Khyber Medical University Lab for testing. Teams have been dispatched to create awareness among the local residents,” he said, adding that so far 35 cases have been reported.

Water tankers have been sent to the area by the district administration and a team of experts has been deployed to chlorinate the water streams in the villages so that people could use its water without any worries.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2022.