The deadly Hepatitis-B outbreak in northern Gujarat seems to be tightening its grip with one more death reported this morning in Sabarkantha's Modasa taluka. District officials said this takes the toll from the viral disease up to 25 in less than a fortnight with six deaths reported in the last 24 hours and seven new cases of hepatitis identified, all from Modasa.

The officials said the number of hepatitis cases reported in Sabarkantha has gone up to 77 and 41 people have lost their lives in Modasa district alone with 113 cases registered since the outbreak of the disease. More than 50 people are said to be undergoing treatment at various hospitals in the district.

The Gujarat Government dispatched medical teams to tackle the situation and a massive vaccination effort is being launched to try to bring the situation under control with almost six lakh doses of anti-Hepatitis-B vaccines are being flown in from Hyderabad.
Four MLAs raised the issue of the hepatitis outbreak in Sabarkantha in the Assembly today under Rule 116 (short call notice). Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas, replying to queries said as per the figures available with him 19 people have died due to hepatitis-B infection in Sabarkantha. He added that 224 medical teams have been deployed in the district, where 115 villages have been surveyed.
The Minister said the Health Department has filed an FIR against seven private medical practitioners, charging them with negligence and they have been booked under the Medical Practitioners Act for illegal medical practices.

Two teams of experts from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) from New Delhi and the National Institute of Virology from Pune are in Modasa town taking stock of the situation.

In another instance Surat reported 39 cases of hepatitis-E, caused due to contaminated food or water from three villages in Olpad taluka. "The cases of hepatitis-E have been reported from the Masma, Isanpur and Talad villages of Olpad taluka. This cannot be compared with hepatitis-B outbreak in Sabarkantha district of North Gujarat," Surat District Collector Dilip Raval told PTI.

"The primary reason for the hepatitis-E cases in Olpad is contamination of drinking water. There was leakage in the main drinking water pipeline causing the contamination," Raval said, adding the cases were reported some ten days ago.

He said district health officials have completed 100 % survey of the affected villages and advised people to take precautions apart from initiating chlorination of the contaminated water.

Raval said the leakage in the pipeline has been fixed with the help of Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board (GWSSB), and an alternative pipeline has been installed ensuring water supply to the villages.

Health officials said Hepatitis E is not harmful as Hepatitis B and D.