The Hindu : Plague will not spread, says Thakur

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 22, 2002

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Plague will not spread, says Thakur

CHANDIGARH, FEB. 21. The Union Health Minister, C. P. Thakur, today said the outbreak of plague in Himachal Pradesh had been contained and there was no chance of it spreading to other region.

``The Himachal Pradesh Government, the PGI, Chandigarh; and NICD, New Delhi, have done an excellent job in containing the highly contagious disease. The Centre was also monitoring the situation closely,'' he said.

He said the area in Himachal Pradesh from where it had spread, was prone to plague. ``In 1983, too, the disease had been reported from that area. But this time, the authorities did well and brought it under control.''

Dr. Thakur said ``luckily, rats of the area were not infected, which would have made things dangerous.''

``Chandigarh will be the nodal centre for places like Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan to deal with health emergencies, such as plague,'' Dr. Thakur told reporters here.

He said that provision of such centres in other parts would be taken up in the next health policy. ``Such nodal centres will keep the health authorities better prepared to deal with any eventuality.''

The condition of two patients the undergoing treatment at PGI here was serious while the other four were showing signs of recovery, the Minister said.

- PTI

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Plague will not spread, says Thakur