Centre issues small pox alert in NE

Agartala, June 2 (UNI) The Union External Affairs Ministry has issued an alert to the North-East states with the suspected outbreak of small pox in Bangladesh and Myanmar recently.

Health department officials said here today that several special medical teams had been constituted in all sub-divisional hospitals to conduct extensive health check-up, while village panchayats were asked to sensitise the issue at the grass roots level.

Following the Centre's instruction, the Tripura Government made arrangements for free consultation and health check-ups at the hospitals of Agartala for those coming from Bangladesh, officials said adding that the same precautions had already been taken in West Bengal.

Official sources said small pox had taken its toll in both Bangladesh and Myanmar, while the World Health Organisation (WHO) had sent two expert teams to the countries and asked all neighbouring countries to take precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the disease.

The Indian High Commission in Dhaka had informed about the spread of small pox in Bangladesh and Myanmar to Indian Ministry of External Affairs early this week and the Centre brought the matter to the notice of the states bordering Bangladesh.

Summer diseases, including gastroenteritis, water-borne diseases, malaria, measles have already claimed 23 lives in different parts of Tripura during the past two months.

Consequently, the state government organised health camps and sent a number of medical consignments to the remote villages, officials added.

UNI