: Two women died while 30 others were hospitalised after complaining of vomiting and diarrhoea at Anapura village in Gurumitkal taluk of Yadagiri district on Wednesday, officials said.
The deceased were identified as Savithramma (35), a farmer from Anapura village and Sayamma (71).
According to health officials, Savithramma was admitted to a private hospital in Narayanapete in Telangana on Tuesday after she complained of stomach ache, vomiting and diarrhoea. Unable to recover, she died on Wednesday morning.
Sayamma was admitted to a private hospital in Mehboobnagar in Telangana on Tuesday, and she died on Wednesday. The exact reason will be known after the autopsy, officials said.
On Tuesday, 24 villagers and seven others on Wednesday complained of gastroenteritis and were admitted to Yadagiri district hospital, Anapura and Narayanapete hospitals. Villagers complained that drainage water was mixed with drinking water and caused the contamination, officials said.
Soon after the incident, zilla panchayat and health officials rushed to the village and conducted an investigation.
тАЬ15 people were admitted at Yadagiri district hospital, three were admitted at Narayanapete private hospital, and 12 were admitted at Anapura community health centre,тАШтАЩ DHO Dr Gururaja Hiregowder said.
Soon after the incident, we formed three teams to find the reason and take care of the health of the villagers. Each team comprises a medical officer, a PHC doctor, three nurses and four ASHA workers. The team is camping in Anapura and verifying. We have collected food and water samples and sent them to FSL for testing. Soon after receiving the lab report, the exact reason will be known, he added.
He said all the patients are out of danger and recovering, and by Thursday most villagers would be discharged from the hospital. тАШтАЩPrima facie it seems the villagers are suffering from cholera; we have taken all precautionary measures and treated everyone, тАЬ Taluk medical officer Dr Hanumantha Reddy said.
тАШтАЩThe village has three water tanks, and we are supplying water from the same bore well. Residents of only one colony were complaining of food poisoning. This is not due to contaminated water, тАШтАЩ Anapura gram panchayat development officer B Vijayalakshmi said.
She said that all the patients celebrated the festival of the village deity three days back and consumed non-vegetarian food. тАЬI suspect food poisoning while preparing mass food. She said the officials have collected water and food samples also.тАЭ She said that Anapura village has a population of 5000, and the gram panchayat is supplying water through tankers after the incident, following instructions from higher officers.
In another incident, more than 230 nursing students fell ill on February 7 after consuming non-vegetarian food in Mangaluru and were later discharged from the hospital. The police booked a case against the management of a private college. On January 17, more than 100 students of the government-run Morarji Desari residential school were admitted for gastroenteritis and discharged from the hospital.
