An acute gastroenteritis outbreak at Devli Karad village, Maharashtra, India with an attack rate of 22.6% affected mainly adolescent and adult population. The viral investigations conducted on fecal specimens of patients hospitalized indicated the presence of rotavirus B (RVB) using RNA polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The samples collected from the source of drinking water also showed the presence of the only RVB. Absence of other viral agents and identification of RVB of genotype G2 as the etiological agent of the acute gastroenteritis outbreak highlights, the necessity of monitoring RVB, the viral agent known for its large outbreak potential.
In rural India, since 2014, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission) has ensured construction of more than 100 million toilets and is now focusing on reinforcement of sanitation behaviors. We report a cholera outbreak in a remote village in western India where open defecation was implicated in causation. A water pipeline was damaged in the vicinity of a stream flowing from a site of open defecation. Despite the availability of a toilet facility in the majority of households (75%), open defecation was widely practiced (62.8%). Many reported not washing hands with soap and water before eating (78.5%) and after defecation (61.1%). The study emphasizes the need for focused health behavior studies and evidence-based interventions to reduce the occurrence of cholera outbreaks. This could be the last lap in the path toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6, which aims to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”
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