An el tor cholera outbreak amongst tribal population in Tripura.

ABSTRACT

An outbreak of acute diarrhoeal disease occurred in Dhalai and North Tripura district, Tripura during month of May 2004. An investigation was done to identify causative agent with anti microbial susceptibility pattern and to know the epidemiological feature. Overall attack rate and Case Fatality Rate (CFR) was 18.8%. and 6.9/1000 respectively. Vibrio cholerae O1 biotype El Tor, Ogawa was isolated as sole pathogen in 40% of hospitalized acute diarrhoea patient and from a water samples examined. The strains were sensitive to Tetracycline, Doxycycline, Norfloxacin, Ciprofloxacin, Chloramphenicol, and Azithromycin. Bad peridomestic sanitation, use of contaminated surface water along with low literacy, lack of personal hygiene, frequent movement might be the factor associated with persistence and spread of pathogen amongst tribal groups leading to outbreak of cholera.