Panic gripped Kolamasanapalle village of Palamaner constituency in the district, following the death of a 37-year-old man, while three others were taken ill, believed to be due to outbreak of diarrhoea.
According to information, several residents of the remote village started complaining of stomach-ache and vomiting since Monday evening. One villager, Sankarappa died after complaining of acute stomach pain and dysentery around midnight. This prompted the villagers to rush the sick, including the aged, women and children to the Government hospital at Palamaner. Thirty villagers reached Palamaner, while several others rushed to the public health centres in and around their village.
A special team of doctors led by the district epidemiologist, Lavanya, have been sent to Kolamasanapalle to monitor the situation. Latest reports said that all those who were getting treated at the Palamaner hospital and other clinics were out of danger.
District Medical and Health Officer, K. Koteswari told The Hindu that preliminary investigation revealed that a tank near the village got polluted after the villagers started using the water after attending nature’s call.
“A majority of the villagers have been using the tank, avoiding the concept of building individual toilets at their residences,” she said.
The DMHO said the samples of rectum were collected from the patients, in addition to taking the water samples from the tank and the overhead tank in the village. “We have sent the samples to public health lab at Tirupati. We are awaiting the report in a couple of days”
Meanwhile, a special medical camp was set up at Kolamasanapalle.
DMHO says a tank got polluted after the villagers started using water after attending
nature’s call