54 patients treated so far: Health Deptt

Rajouri, Jun 10: As many as 54 people from the tribal hamlet Kotli near Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri suffering from water-borne gastrointestinal outbreak have been treated so far, while 16 of them have reported at GMC Associated Hospital Rajouri, where two patients are still under treatment while other 14 have been discharged, officials said. Kotli is a remote tribal hamlet in Bagla Panchayat of Rajouri district and is located near Line of Control (LoC) with people of area have no much access to government supply of water for drinking and their dependency for drinking water is upon natural sources like wells.

In last one and half weeks, dozens of people from this tribal hamlet have been reported with medical issues of gastroenteritis and Diarrhea and two patients are still under treatment in GMC Associated Hospital Rajouri. Besides, 38 patients with similar medical issues were treated at the site by team of doctors and medical experts that visited the affected hamlet. Some of the villagers treated at the site had to be given IV fluid while others got treated with oral medication.

The illness among the locals has now been confirmed to be a case of water source contamination after E-coli has been found in spring and water wells from where affected population was fetching drinking water.

Chief Medical Officer Rajouri, Dr Manohar Lal Rana said that news regarding spread of a mysterious disease in hamlet of Rajouri are completely rumour as it is a confirmed case of gastroenteritis and diarrhea due to water source contamination.

Dr Rana said a massive public outreach was conducted by different departments in the affected hamlet on Tuesday, where people were made aware about water contamination and ways to prevent it.