Bhubaneswar: As many as 2,800 people have been infected by scrub typhus in Odisha so far this year, a health official said Wednesday.
A senior IAS officer of the agriculture department has recently been infected by the disease.
Barring two to three districts, scrub typhus has been detected in rural and urban areas of all districts of Odisha.
So far, 22,077 samples have been tested this year, of which 2,820 reports returned positive for scrub typhus, said Public Health Department Director Niranjan Mishra said.
If the disease is detected at an early stage before affecting organs, it can be easily cured through normal treatment, he said.
On reports of deaths of eight people due to the disease, Mishra said there is some “discrepancy” in the scrub typhus death cases as the patients have died in private facilities, where tests are done through rapid test kits whereas scrub typhus can be accurately detected through ELISA test.
He said the ELISA test can be done at the district public health laboratory of all district headquarters hospitals in the state.
Mishra said a central team has visited Sundergarh, Jharsuguda, Bargarh and Sambalpur districts to review the scrub typhus situation in the state.
The central team expressed satisfaction over the availability of testing facilities in all districts and verbally advised the state to enhance testing, he said.
The remaining people have recovered and the hospitalisation rate is low as most of the patients are getting cured by home treatment, Mishra added.
Meanwhile, Odisha Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Department Principal Secretary Arabinda Padhee tested positive for scrub typhus and is under home treatment.
“Got to know that our @krushibibhag Principal Secretary Dr @arvindpadhee has tested positive for #ScrubTyphus. Praying to Lord Jagannath for his speedy and complete recovery,” Agriculture Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain said in a post in X, formerly Twitter.
Scrub typhus infection spreads through the bite of chigger, a harvest mite. Those frequenting farmlands and forests are vulnerable to the infection.
The most common symptoms of scrub typhus include fever and a black inflamed mark on the skin called ‘eschar’.
Though cases were being reported from March, the number started to increase from August.
PTI