'Mysterious' illness spreads panic in Odisha village; over 90 affected

Panic spread in Ward No. 13 under Manikpatna Panchayat in the Aul block of the Kendrapara district after several villagers were allegedly affected by a mysterious illness. Over 90 villagers have been affected by this alleged mysterious illness and are currently undergoing medical treatment.

As per sources, even after 20 days since the illness was first detected, the exact cause of the disease remains unknown.

In response to the escalating situation, a medical team from the Kendrapara district headquarters hospital has been dispatched to the village. The team is not only treating patients but also conducting awareness programs to educate the local community about the illness. In their efforts to identify the source of the disease, the medical team has collected blood samples and drinking water from the area for testing. 

“It’s been over 10 days since the medical team has arrived in the village. The medication that they are administering is to no avail, they also collected blood samples two days ago. The doctors are suspecting a few patients to be infected with Dengue due to low platelet count. About 100 people are infected, and the initial symptoms include fever with swelling of hands, legs, and joints. The infected patients are also experiencing itchiness and suffering a lot,” said Mihir Jena, a villager.

“Blood samples of 34 patients were collected and among those blood samples, we discovered that 3 patients have low platelet counts. Today the district-level team arrived including an epidemiologist and microbiologist. We collected blood samples of another 16 infected patients, and are expecting the test results by tomorrow. We also conducted an awareness camp today. Our staffs went door-to-door educating the villagers,” said Prabana Kumar Shukla, Medical Officer, Aul CHC.

“The actual cause and nature of the disease can be determined once test reports are available,” he added further.