Indore water contamination: 20 new cases detected; over 9,000 screened

Indore: Twenty new patients were detected in Indore on Sunday after health teams screened more than 9,000 residents amid an ongoing diarrhoea outbreak caused by contaminated drinking water in the city, officials said.

Authorities reported that 9,416 individuals from 2,354 households in Bhagirathpura were examined during the latest survey, where six people have died due to consumption of polluted water, and 20 fresh cases were identified.

Since the outbreak began, a total of 398 patients have been admitted to hospitals in the area. Of them, 256 have recovered and been discharged, while 142 patients remain under treatment, including 11 in intensive care units (ICUs).

Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr. Madhav Prasad Haasani said a team from the Kolkata-based National Institute for Research in Bacterial Infections (NIRBI), affiliated with the Indian Council of Medical Research, has arrived in Indore to investigate the crisis. Experts are providing technical support to the city health department to contain the outbreak.

While authorities have officially confirmed six deaths linked to contaminated water in Bhagirathpura, Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava had earlier mentioned information about 10 deaths. Local residents claim that 16 people, including a six-month-old infant, have died due to the diarrhoea outbreak.

With PTI inputs