The 2010 Outbreak of Cholera among Workers of a Jute Mill in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
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Date
2011-02
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Abstract
On 10 March 2010, an outbreak of diarrhoeal disease was reported among workers of a jute mill in Kolkata,
West Bengal, India. The cluster was investigated to identify the agent(s) and the source of infection and
make recommendations. A suspected case of cholera was defined as having >3 loose watery stools in a
24-hour period and searched for case-patients in the workers’ colony. The outbreak was described by time,
place, and person, and a case-control study was conducted to identify the source of infection. Rectal swabs
were collected from the hospitalized case-patients, and the local water-supply system was assessed. In
total, 197 case-patients were identified among 5,910 residents of the workers’ colony (attack rate 3.33%).
Fifteen of 24 stool samples were positive for Vibrio cholerae O1. The outbreak started on 7 March, peaked
on 11 March, and ended on 16 March 2010. Compared to 120 controls, 60 cases did not differ in terms of
age and socioeconomic status. Drinking-water from the reservoir within the mill premises was associated
with an increased risk of illness [odds ratio: 26.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) 11.4-62.6) and accounted
for most cases (population attributable risk percentage=82%, 95% CI 70.8-92.9). An outbreak of cholera
occurred among workers of the jute mill due to contamination of the drinking-water reservoir. It occurred
within a few days of re-opening of the mill after the workers’ strike. Health authorities need to enforce
disinfection of drinking-water and regularly test its bacteriological quality, particularly before re-opening
of the mill after the strike.
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Keywords
Case-control studies, Disease outbreaks, Cholera, Vibrio cholerae, Water pollution, Water supply, India
Citation
Mridha Prakash, Biswas Asit K, Ramakrishnan R, Murhekar Manoj V. The 2010 Outbreak of Cholera among Workers of a Jute Mill in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition. 2011 Feb; 29(1): 9-13.