Cerebral Malaria hits foothills of Simlipal

Baripada, Jul 12 (UNI) With the onset of the monsoon, cerebral malaria staged a comeback in Mayurbhanj district with tribals often falling prey to the killer disease.

Since 1977-78, Simlipal Hill forests, its periphery and foothill villages have been identified as ''high risk zone''.

An epidemiological study conducted by the District Malaria organisation during the last one decade (1996-2005) stated that at least 90 per cent of the total malaria cases detected or reported were cerebral malaria.

In 1996, of the total 47,871 malaria cases detected, 42,166 were cerebral malaria. Despite an intensified anti-malaria battle, the situation after a decade in 2005 remained almost unchanged, the study said.

During 2005, of the total number of 20,272 malaria cases detected, 18,435 cases, almost 90.9 per cent, were found to be suffering from cerebral malaria, official sources said.

In the Simlipal Tiger Reserve(STR) nearly 70 per cent of the field staff frequently fall victims to cerebral malaria, though no deaths were reported.

When asked District Malaria Officer Kailash Chandra Mohanty said the only silver lining in our crusade against cerebral malaria was that the number of deaths have been brought down from 45 in 1996 to ten in 2004 and to five in 2005.

He said as an effective and innovative step we have intensified our strategy to propagate the ''Gambusia Aftinis'' fish that eats the female larvae of the mosquito carrying the malaria parasites.

The Gambusia fish has been released in 1494 water bodies under twenty blocks of Mayurbhanj district. Hatcheries had also been set up all the block headquarters. Besides this, nearly 1,06,731 community mosquito nets have been impregnated with medicines free of cost to repel the mosquitoes, sources said.

UNI XC-DP KK RN1736