Five cholera cases reported in Chennai, Food department to test samples

CHENNAI: Five cases of cholera have been reported in the city, according to Corporation officials.

“We have been informed of five cases of cholera. We have asked the Food Safety Department to test the samples,” said a Corporation official.

However, Director of Public Health Dr K Kolandaswamy said only four cases were notified to him. “On Tuesday, four positive cases of cholera were reported from patients who were admitted to hospital for a month. One from West Bengal and three from a African country were tested positive,” said Kolandaswamy.

Kolandaswamy further said the hospital gave treatment and also took control measures.

“We suspect contaminated food to be the source of infection. We have sent food sample to a lab for test and are waiting for result. We took food samples from the canteen of the hospital. We also gave training in hand washing practice and general hygiene to the workers at the canteen,” Dr Kolandaswamy said.

However, it was not clear whether the patients’ visitors had bought food from outside or from the canteen itself, the official added.