Deadly ‘Melioidosis’, Generated From Rice Fields, Spreading Across MP, Experts Warn
A deadly infectious bacterial disease, melioidosis, once confined to some coastal states, has become endemic in Madhya Pradesh and spreading rapidly across the state, experts have warned.
Bhopal: A deadly infectious bacterial disease, melioidosis, once confined to some coastal states, has become endemic in Madhya Pradesh and spreading rapidly across the state, experts have warned. A report by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhopal, has confirmed that patients diagnosed with melioidosis have been reported in more than 20 districts in Madhya Pradesh, a spokesman of the MP government said.
Melioidosis is an infectious disease caused by the Burkholderia pseudomallei, commonly found in the soil and contaminated water in rice fields. The spread of the disease has increased due to the expansion of paddy cultivation and abundance of water resources, the spokesman said.
Key symptoms of the disease include persistent or recurrent fever, continuous cough resembling tuberculosis, chest pain during breathing or normal activity, and no improvement despite TB treatment. Four out of ten patients succumb to the disease if not treated on time, data from AIIMS, Bhopal, said.
More than 130 patients from 20 districts in Madhya Pradesh have been diagnosed with the disease in the last six years in AIIMS, Bhopal, alone.
“This is a clear indication that the disease, once confined to the coastal states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Odisha, has now become endemic in Madhya Pradesh”, experts said.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Ninister Mohan Yadav has taken note of the issue and asked the health and agriculture departments to jointly ensure proper measures for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the disease. He has asked the principal secretaries of both the departments to conduct investigations in the affected and high-risk areas and take measures to contain the spread of the disease.