Mizoram district enforces Epidemic Act, seals village after 6 die of gastroenteritis

AIzawl: The territorial dominion governing body in Mizoram’s Lawngtlai has invoked the Epidemic Diseases move, 1897, followers the deaths of sextet people from suspected gastroenteritis in Kakichhuah village, near the Indo-Myanmar border, over the past 10 days, officials said on Wednesday.Lawngtlai district deputy commissioner (DC) Donny Lalruatsanga, after consulting the district Chief Medical Officer (CMO) on Wednesday, ordered the temporary closure of the entry point between Salachhuah in Myanmar and Kakichhuah.“Kakichhuah village is declared a containment area for one week. Movement of people in and out of the village, except for medical teams, election duty officials, and persons on emergency duties, is banned,” the order issued by the DC read.According to the report of the medical team that visited the village on Tuesday, 27 people have fallen ill with symptoms of suspected gastroenteritis. Samples from the patients and water from the village’s traditional water source have been sent to the Zoram Medical College & Hospital (ZMC&H) in Falkawn, near Aizawl, for laboratory testing, the CMO said.Leaders of a prominent NGO in Lawngtlai district, the Young Lai Association, said the outbreak — reportedly involving dysentery and vomiting accompanied by high fever — was first reported on November 4, when an elderly man named Lawmla died. “Since then, there have been four deaths reported from Lawngtlai district and one from Lungdar village in the neighbouring Siaha district,” volunteers of the NGO said.Health department officials said that a medical team led by Dr. C. Lalzampuii had visited Kakichhuah on Tuesday, collecting samples from patients and from the village’s spring water source, believed to be the main source of drinking water.Lawngtlai district CMO Dr. Lalmuanawma Jongte said the samples would be sent to Aizawl for laboratory analysis to confirm the cause of the outbreak.A 14-year-old boy, Chawlithaw, died on Wednesday morning, raising the toll in Kakichhuah to six. All the victims had exhibited symptoms of diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and fever, and reportedly died soon after falling ill.Kakichhuah, one of Mizoram’s remotest villages, lies about 142 kilometres from Lawngtlai town at the southernmost tip of the state, bordering Myanmar. The village, with around 130 households, is mostly inhabited by members of the Khumi community, refugees originally from Myanmar’s southern Chin and Rakhine states. All those who died were from this community, officials said.According to an official statement from the Mizoram government, health officials from both Lawngtlai and Siaha districts are maintaining close surveillance as investigation and testing continue to determine the source of the suspected outbreak.