Elderly woman dies, over a dozen hospitalised

Srinagar, June 28: An elderly woman died while at least 19 people were hospitalised due to gastroenteritis in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, officials said today.

The deceased was 75 years old and had other co-morbities besides suffering from diarrhoea.
Several others have been treated for this illness by a mobile medical team in Sakri village of the district, said an official.

The health department, the officials said, has attributed the outbreak to water contamination after E.coli was found in water samples from the area.

According to official details, 19 villagers from Sakri were brought to the Government Medical College Hospital, Rajouri, over the past 72 hours.

All patients complained of diarrhoea and other gastroenteritis symptoms, with a few also experiencing partial unconsciousness due to dehydration, they said.

Among them, two patients have been referred to the GMC Hospital in Jammu for specialised treatment, they said.

This is a confirmed case of waterborne contamination due to E.coli.

The officials said that medical teams immediately swung into action and collected water samples consumed by the villagers.

The presence of E.coli was confirmed in the samples, marking it as another case of waterborne contamination similar to the Kotli Bagla incident two weeks ago in which 30 people had fallen ill. (With PTI inputs)