Hundred twenty people were admitted to the Williamnagar Civil Hospital after being affected by the diarrhea bug.
The situation, which has got worse over the past few days, has led to the district administration churning out advisories while also making announcements in various localities on the ways to prevent people contracting the disease.
Diarrhea is commonly caused by bacteria, virus or parasite and is mostly acquired through water and food.
As per reports, the first case was reported about a month ago before similar cases began to flood through the entire town with many having to be hospitalized due to the severity of the infection. While the situation is still under control, more such cases could lead to the health infrastructure being overwhelmed, especially with Covid-19 matters also taking precedence.
Talking about the steps being taken to overcome the disease, East Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner, Swapnil Tembe said that information dissemination on preventive measures were being undertaken by the health department.
While the first case is said to have been an isolated one, however diarrhea reoccurred in the Balsrigittim locality in town before spreading to the municipality areas in Williamnagar.
“Currently we are getting about 20 cases a day. Most of the cases are non critical and can be easily treated. It is only those with weakness which need saline drops. Most cases get over within 2-3 days so we are prepared in case of a spike,” he said.
Of the 120 that were hospitalized earlier, more than half have already left for home.
“We have asked people to boil water before drinking and to do so for at least 10 days. Further all wells, open or otherwise, are all being sanitized as well as water sources to the town. We are hopeful we will be able to tide over the situation quickly,” Tembe said.
Meanwhile the DC confirmed that tests were carried out by the PHE at the town’s water source though from the reports, the water was bacteria free.
“The PHE is constantly checking the water quality at the source for supply in Williamnagar. For tests conducted on April 12, from Chibok and Simsang, no traces of bacteria were detected. However we are requesting all drink water after boiling it for the next 10 days,” he added.
The DC added that the IDSP team has sent the samples for further investigation as the full addendum of testing materials was not available with the district. The detailed microbiology test reports are awaited.
Further the PHE has also been distributing disinfectants to areas with all possible steps being taken to disinfect drinking water.
For now the thought is that the groundwater in places may be contaminated due to which the disease has been spreading.
