Berhampur: A 5-year-old girl died of diarrhoea and over 40 others have been hit by the disease in some villages of Ganjam district in the past four days, officials said on Thursday.
The affected persons were undergoing treatment in the hospital at Khallikote and Kabisuryanagar.
The deceased was identified as Sriyanka Das (5) of Bania village, said Additional District Medical Officer (Public Health), L K Rath.
The affected villages are Bania with 19 patients, Langora (9 patients), Kamandala (2 patients) and Deogaon where there are 10 patients, officials said.
In Bania, diarrhoea was detected after the villagers consumed food at a feast in the village on Sunday night. In other villages the water-borne disease was spreading due to the consumption of contaminated water, they added.
Medical teams were deployed in the affected villages.
While halogen tablets were distributed to villagers, drinking water sources were disinfected, Rath said adding, teams of doctors are keeping a close watch in the affected villages.
ADMO said the water and stool samples were collected from the affected villages. These will be sent to laboratories for tests.
Meanwhile, the health officials asked the engineers of rural water supply and sanitation (RWSS) to arrange alternative water supply to the affected villages. A senior engineer of RWSS said they would inspect the pipe water supply schemes in these villages. Necessary steps would be taken, if there was any leakage, he stated.