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An outbreak of scrub typhus, a bacterial disease, has claimed the lives of five people in Nagaland’s Noklak district bordering Myanmar.
- More than 600 others tested positive for the disease but recovered after treatment.
Scrub typhus Outbreak
- It is also known as bush typhus, spreads to people through bites of larval mites. The symptoms include fever, headache and bodyache.Disease caused by a bacteria called Orientia tsutsugamushi.
- People recover if treated in time.
- Five people died probably because they were ignorant about the disease.
- Scrub typhus has been the latest in a string of viral and bacterial fatalities in the Northeast.
About Scrub Typhus
- It is a disease caused by a bacteria called Orientia tsutsugamushi.
- Symptoms of scrub typhus usually begin within 10 days of being bitten. Signs and symptoms may include:
- Fever and chills
- Headache
- Body aches and muscle pain
- A dark, scab-like region at the site of the chigger bite
- Mental changes, ranging from confusion to coma
- Enlarged lymph nodes
- Rash
- Scrub typhus should be treated with the antibiotic and most effective if given soon after symptoms begin.
- No vaccine is available to prevent scrub typhus.
Source : The Hindu
Topic
Prelims : About Scrub Typhus
GS II : Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources
Current Affairs Compilation : 25 September 2020