By Sandeep Mishra
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Dec 16: The health department Tuesday sent the blood samples of people afflicted with the mysterious disease broke out in Malkangiri district to Pune for further examination. Health department sources said about 14 lives in the tribal dominated area were perished so far and the mystery behind the disease would be revealed in two days.
Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) director Shantanu Kumar Kar told Orissa POST that they have collected about 35 blood samples of which one tested dengue positive while another infected with herpes simplex. The remaining 33 samples have also been tested but have turned out to be negative.
“Due to lack of technologically advanced equipment for testing blood samples, we have sent the samples to the National Institute of Virology in Pune. The institute will test the samples in the next two days and prepare a report,” Kar said.
Earlier, the health experts suspected the disease as ‘Japanese encephalitis’, a vector-borne disease. However, after a thorough examination it was found out that the disease is a type of encephalitis which affects the brain.
Moreover, it was found that the mysterious disease is affecting a particular age group. The 14 kids who died of the disease were under five years of age. “The symptoms appear at the last stage of the disease which can turn fatal within 48 hours of infection,” health experts said.
The health department has deputed its experts in the affected blocks of Malkangiri district. Director of public health Kailash Dash assured that the epidemic is under
control.
On the contrary, the unofficial death toll of the disease stood at 24 while the health department has claimed it
to be 14.