Diarrhoea outbreak in HP's Hamirpur under control: Officials

An outbreak of diarrhoea that affected more than 400 people in Himachal's Hamirpur district has been brought under control, officials said on Friday.

Chief Medical Officer, Hamirpur, R K Agnihotri said all the 441 patients in the 29 panchayats of the Tauni Devi area of the district are now cured.

Agnihotri said the outbreak was under control but advised people to take preventive steps like using boiled water for drinking.

The first case of diarrhoea was reported on March 11 and the number continued to rise thereafter, officials said, adding two water samples collected from the area were deemed unfit for consumption and a detailed report is awaited.

All those who fell ill were given free medicines and chlorine was also used in their water sources to make the water fit for consumption, the CMO said.

This is the third time in the last 14 months that a diarrhoea outbreak has been reported from Hamirpur.

In January 2023, about 1,000 people contracted diarrhoea in the Rangas area of Nadaun, the Assembly constituency of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.

It returned in June, affecting 10 panchayats adjoining Hamirpur town.