Bhubaneswar, Oct 4: Barring a couple of districts Scrub typhus has spread to almost the entire Odisha, Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra said here on Wednesday.
Mishra told newsmen that the disease is not confined only to rural areas but has spread to the urban areas too.
The Director Public Health said so far 22,077 tests have been conducted and 2820 people have been found scrub typhus positive.
Scrub typhus, also known as bush typhus, is a disease caused by a bacteria called Orientia tsutsugamushi. Scrub typhus is also spread to people through bites of infected chiggers (larval mites), Mishra said.
The most common symptoms of scrub typhus include fever, headache, body aches and sometimes rash.
The Director Public Health said recently a central team has visited Bargarh, Jharsuguda,Sambalpur, Sundergarh, Bolangir and the Burla Medical college to review the situation.
The team, Mishra said had appreciated the steps taken by the state government to curb the menace of Scrub typhus.The central team would soon submit its report to the central government.
Mishra said the central team has verbally asked the state to increase testing and for early detection of the disease. The state government, he said , will take further action after receiving their recommendation.
The Director said a team of the state government had gone to Sundargarh and Bargarh to examine the alleged reports about deaths due to scrub typhus.
He said there is confusion over each death as they have died in private hospitals. In private hospitals rapid tests were done instead of the Elisa test.
Scrub typhus, Mishra said, could only be detected through Elisa test.
Meanwhile, the state government has asked district health authorities to increase the surveillance for the upsurge of scrub typhus.
A report from Capital hospital said Secretary Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment Arabinda Padhi has been found positive for Scrub Typhus and is undergoing treatment at his residence.
