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The monsoon season, though unusually protracted this year, has ended. But the fear of contracting cholera persists across the coastal district of South 24 Parganas in West Bengal. In April, Dhananjay Roy of Fulmalancha gram panchayat in Basanti block had nearly lost his one-year-old son to the acute diarrhoeal infection. “Watery stool jetted out of his body 20 to 25 times for two days in a row. As he lay listless, we rushed him to a hospital,” recalls Roy. Caused by Vibrio cholerae, a comma-shaped bacterium, the disease can be fatal if left untreated as it forces the intestine to expel massive amounts of water and electrolytes like sodium, chloride, potassium and bicarbonate through faeces. The infant’s health improved soon after he was administered oral rehydration solution. But over the next fortnight, everybody else in Roy’s six-member family developed the same symptoms, requiring medical attention. Records at the block hospital show that between April and May, over 100 people from Fulmalancha and Chatrakhali gram panchayats contracted cholera—an old foe of the humanity that spreads through water or food contaminated with the faeces of an infected person (see ‘Transmission cycle’).
The outbreak prompted swift action from the district administration and health officials. “A rapid response team of experts, including an epidemiologist, a clinician, microbiologists and a food safety officer, visited the affected villages,” Amit Bera, block medical officer of Basanti, tells Down To Earth (DTE). Water samples from several tube wells were found to be contaminated with Vibrio cholerae. “Pond water was not tested, as it was bound to be contaminated,” says Atrayee Chakraborty, deputy chief medical officer of health, South 24 Parganas. There is a possibility …
This article was originally published as part of Down To Earth’s cover story on cholera dated 1-15 October, 2024.