Imphal : Many people of Lilong Chingjao and Lilong Chingeijing villages in Thoubal district, mostly women and children, have been hospitalized at several health centres in Manipur following outbreak of a mysterious disease.
Most of the affected villagers were admitted to health centres in and around Imphal following complaint of continuous vomiting and loose motion in the last three days.
According to sources in the Directorate of Health Services, around 30 people were admitted to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) and one to the JNIMS Hospital, both in Imphal. Seven others were admitted to the Public Health Centre at Lilong in Thoubal district.
Those admitted to the RIMS Hospital are being administered medication as they were diagnosed with AGE (Acute gastroenteritis), a combination of diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Most of the patients are recovering, and some of them are expected to be discharged soon, hospital sources added.
One Md Riyajkhan (38) of Lilong Chingjao village, who has now recovered after being hospitalized, said that the villagers have been consuming water from two tube wells since long and they never suffered from any disease. They now believe that the recent (January 4) earthquake may have changed the quality of the groundwater and that could be the reason for such an outbreak of the disease, he said, while attending his 15-year-old son who is undergoing treatment at the same hospital.
Meanwhile, the Directorate of Health Services has started to initiate steps to control the outbreak of the disease, even as a team of experts from the JNIMS Hospital was sent to the affected villages to collect samples from there.
Stating that there is no reason to panic, Director of Manipur State Health Services Dr O Ibomcha told The Assam Tribune that the State government has already collected water samples from the villages and sent them for further examination to determine the root cause of the disease.