Berhampur: At least 45 people have been affected by diarrhoea in two villages in Ganjam and Kandhamal districts.

A health department official said on Wednesday that medical teams had rushed to Sabarapalli village in Ganjam and Ghumara village in Kandhamal to take stock of the situation. However, there are no reports of any casualties from the water-borne disease, he said.

While at least 22 people are affected at Sabarpalli, 23 were taken ill at Ghumara. "The disease was reported at Sabarapalli on Sunday after villagers took cooked food in a community feast," said Ganjam's chief district medical officer R. Jagadesh Patnaik. Use of contaminated water from a pond lying unused for years is suspected to have caused the disease, he said. Medical teams from the community health centre at Adapada and Berhampur have already reached the village.

"They will bring samples of stool and blood from the patients and collect water from the village for laboratory tests. The situation is under control," he said. PTI