Dr Jainul Khatri, Kutch CDHO, said there are no deaths so far but 11 have been hospitalised and restrictions have been placed over selling street food
Mandvi, the Kutch district’s coastal town in Gujarat was declared a cholera-epidemic zone Wednesday evening after a person with symptoms like diarrhoea and vomiting was confirmed to be the index case while almost a dozen people were hospitalised.
The news came days after a cholera outbreak was confirmed in central Gujarat’s Anand town early this week and two children were suspected to have died of cholera in Rajkot.
Stating that Mandvi was declared a cholera epidemic zone even though only one confirmed case was reported, Amit Arora, collector of Kutch told The Indian Express that World Health Organisation (WHO) protocol demands that the area has to be declared an epidemic zone even if there is only one case.
Claiming that there has been no deaths as of yet, “Total 11 patients are undergoing treatment in various hospitals in Mandvi” for cholera, said Dr Jainul Khatri, in-charge chief district health officer (CDHO) of Kutch.
“Following the confirmation of the outbreak, restrictions have been imposed on selling sliced fruits, stale food etc and water is being chlorinated,” Khatri said.
Cholera is caused by vibrio cholera bacteria which spread mainly through ingestion of contaminated water and food.
Vinod Goklani, Mandvi’s mamlatdar (tehsildar) has been appointed as the epidemic control authority for the epidemic zone.
While water drawn from various parts of the town are sent for testing, “25 teams of the health department are going door-to-door for surveillance,” said Goklani, adding that the restrictions will remain for a month.
While there has been no secondary case registered, Dr Kailashpati Paswan, Mandvi taluka health officer, has negated the possibility of person-to-person transmission through faecal-oral contamination
Known for its serene sea beach and Vijay Vilas Palace, the Gujarat government has been promoting Mandvi as a tourist destination, highlighting its sea beach with water-sports.
Also known for its industry of constructing dhows or country craft, Mandvi, a port town, is also famous for its Kutchi dabeli, a fast-food locally called double-roti which is basically a sliced pav bun bread with a paste of boiled, mashed potatoes mixed with spices as stuffing.