SARS alert in Orissa

An alert about SARS has been sounded in Orissa and hospitals are being geared to deal with anticipated cases.

An alert about SARS has been sounded in Orissa and hospitals are being geared to deal with anticipated cases in view of the disease surfacing in neighbouring West Bengal.

HT Image

"After the detection of SARS cases in West Bengal, we set up a control room to monitor the situation. We have alerted district health officials and state epidemic squads to remain alert for an emergency," said a health official.

The deputy director of the state health services has been assigned to head the control room at Bhubaneswar. Isolation wards have been set up at hospitals in Paradeep, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar to deal with cases.

Apart from checking passengers arriving at airports, authorities in Orissa are also examining members of shipping vessels that dock at ports in the state.

A WHO team visited Paradeep port last week and expressed satisfaction at the measures taken to check for SARS, said senior port authority official Subrata Tripathy.

The SARS virus has killed around 350 people across the world.