Bhubaneswar: The killer dengue has claimed one more life in the State taking the toll this year to four.
The victim, who was undergoing treatment at the SCB medical college and hospital, has been identified as Lal Kishore Suna of Bolangir district.
Tuna Nayak of Angul, who was admitted at the special dengue ward of the government-run referral hospital, breathed his last after hours of treatment on July 10.
A week before that, Sukramani Sandil and 60-year-old woman Ratani Karua of Barbil Municipal area became the first two victims of the vector-borne disease this year.
However, officials monitoring the dengue menace said the situation has improved in Barbil area, which has emerged as the epicentre of dengue onslaught this season.
“Of the 108 blood samples, 12 tested positive in Barbil. Also, the number of patients has come down to 10 and 28 in Keonjhar and Barbil respectively. We have moblilised our resources for cleanliness and sanitation,” Keonjhar ADMO BB Mishra said.
Health secretary Arati Ahuja on Wednesday visited the dengue ward in SCB medical college and took stock of the situation. The official has directed the doctors to be extra vigilant.
“We have asked Collectors of all the dengue-prone regions in the State to start preventive and control measures in the month of May next year to tame the possibility of such a situation,” Ahuja said.
Taking suo motu cognisance of the dengue outbreak in the State, Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has served notices to the Health Secretary, Urban Development Department Secretary and Collectors of eight districts, including Cuttack, Keonjhar, Bhadrak and, Jajpur, asking for a report on the outbreak of the vector-borne disease.
While the Rights body has given two weeks’ time to district collectors, it has directed the secretaries of the concerned departments to submit the report in four weeks.