Jajpur bans street food sale for a week after gastro outbreak kills 1, leaves many unwell

Kendrapada: Jajpur district administration on Tuesday imposed a week-long ban on the sale of popular street foods like dahi bara and gupchup, after a woman died of gastroenteritis and around 102 others fell ill in several villages under Dasarathpur block.“Police arrested a dahi bara vendor, Sarbeswar Sahoo of Dasarathpur village, in connection with the incident. He was accused of preparing food using contaminated water, allegedly leading to the death of Sundari Jena (72) from Niarasaghi village, on Sunday,” said Mangalpur IIC Ranjan Kumar Behera.“He was booked under various sections of the BNS and was produced before a Jajpur court on Tuesday, which rejected his bail plea and remanded him in custody,” Behera added.Jajpur district collector Ambar Kumar Kar said the administration has banned the sale and consumption of popular street foods like dahi bara-aloo dum and gupchup among others in the district for a week to prevent further spread of the disease, with contaminated water suspected to be the possible source of infection. The decision was taken following discussions with health officials and others.“As per preliminary investigation, Jena died of gastroenteritis after consuming unhygienic dahi bara. Around 102 affected villagers of Dasarathpur were admitted to the hospital on Sunday after consuming street food. Of them, 83 were discharged on Monday. Now, 19 persons, including three children, are undergoing treatment at the district headquarters hospital in Jajpur,” said Jajpur CDMO Bijay Kumar Mishra.“Health teams and ASHA workers are going door-to-door to distribute ORS packets and zinc tablets to the villagers. Gastroenteritis can be controlled by providing safe drinking water, improved sanitation, hygiene and proper nutrition. We advised villagers not to consume unhygienic street foods,” Mishra said, adding that preventive medicines were given to the people and they were also advised to drink boiled water.