Twenty people affected by jaundice

At least 20 persons, mostly children, have been affected by jaundice at a village in Kendrapara district, officials said today.
The fresh outbreak of the disease has been reported in Goudabandhpur village under Mahakalpada tehsil. Intake of unsafe drinking water has apparently led to the disease's outbreak, said officials.
For the past one month, jaundice cases were witnessed in at least six other villages in Kendrapara district. But the disease was brought under control in those villages following timely medical intervention, they said.
The blood samples of the affected villagers have been sent to microbiology department of SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack for test.

The samples of drinking water drawn from the village have also been dispatched to pathology and bacteriology department of the medical college hospital, said Additional District Medical Officer, M H Beig.
A sizeable number of affected people are either women or children from the predominantly backward locality, where the sources of potable water are unsafe for human consumption.
An alert has been sounded in the affected locality and adequate preventive measures are on to contain the disease, said officials.