Irfan Tramboo
Srinagar, Aug 2: A village in North Kashmir’s Kupwara has witnessed a diarrhea outbreak soon after the locals attended a marriage party resulting in the hospitalization of over 80 people.
Officials told Excelsior that there was a marriage ceremony going on at Mirnag village of block Kupwara where the people had wazwan on Friday, following which the condition of most of the people who attended the feast deteriorated, prompting immediate hospitalization.
As per officials, the incident apparently appears to be a classic case of food poisoning while as the technical teams have already taken the samples of the food, as well as the water which is in use in the village.
“There are around 83 people who were hospitalized after they attended a marriage ceremony in the village; they were taken to Sub-District Hospital (SDH) Kupwara where their condition is stable and the most of them have been discharged,” Chief Medical Officer, Kupwara Dr Mehraj Ud Din Sofi told Excelsior.
The officials said that a team consisting of doctors and paramedics has been constituted at the SDH Kupwara which is looking after the admitted patients on the directions of the Deputy Commissioner and CMO, Kupwara.
They further said that until morning 20 were discharged while as the rest are stable and are being treated at the SDH.
“There has not been any death reported while as the other activities as per the protocol have been started in the affected village,” the officials said.
In this regard, a Rapid Response Team has also been stationed in the village along with an ambulance and other essential drugs for appropriate action, if the need arises, while the CMO and BMO have been directed by the Directorate to monitor the situation personally.
In the village which has reported diarrhea cases, the Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities have been started while the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) teams are also active in the village.
“The IDSP Kupwara headed by DHO Kupwara took samples of water and stool for analysis to ascertain the cause of this outbreak,” officials said.
Earlier, on the directions of Director Health Services Kashmir Dr Mushtaq Ahmad Rather, Deputy Director (HQ) Dr Bashir Ahmad Chalkoo along with Chief Medical Officer (CMO)Kupwara, District Health Officer(DHO), Block Medical Officer (BMO), epidemiologist and other officers visited Sub District Hospital Kupwara.
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