Central team to assess cholera situation in Orissa

BHUBANESWAR - A three-member central team Friday arrived in Orissa for an assessment of the situation after an outbreak of cholera and other water-borne diseases has claimed at least 40 lives in the state’s Rayagada district since August.

The team, led by Jagbir Singh, national project officer of the Delhi-based National Centre for Disease Control, held discussions with senior state health officials here.

A state health official said that at least 1,300 people were infected by the diseases in more than 250 villages.

He also said that no fresh deaths were reported and the toll was at 40.

However, sources say the death toll has crossed the 100 mark.

Rayagada, around 390 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, is among the most underdeveloped districts of the country and is often in news for starvation deaths.