Cholera toll rises in Orissa district

BHUBANESWAR - Cholera and other water-borne diseases claimed two more lives in Orissa’s Rayagada district Saturday, taking the toll to 37 since August, officials said.

“Two more deaths were reported Saturday. The toll in the district has gone up to 37,” health department’s Deputy Director Bikash Patnaik told IANS.

The latest victims are a 35-year-old woman from Bissamcuttack area who died on Friday and a 65-year-old man from Kashipur area who died on Saturday, he said.

Thirty-six new cases of water-borne diseases have been reported from Kashipur, Bissamcuttack and Kalyanpur areas of the district, he said.

The disease has spread to seven more villages - five in Bissamcuttack and two in Kashipur area - taking the total number of villages affected in the district to 86 since August, he said.

The district, some 390 km from Bhubaneswar, is among the most underdeveloped parts of the country and is often in news for starvation deaths.