Hisar, February 22
A woman suspected to be suffering from pneumonic plague has been admitted in the local General Hospital where she is being treated for the presence of a pneumonic patch pending confirmatory tests for plague.

The woman is the widow of Krishan Singh who died in Chandigarh of plague a few days ago. The woman Karamjit Kaur hails from Riyondh Khurd village of Punjab which is located near the Haryana border in Rattia block.

She developed plague-like symptoms after the cremation of her husband. According to her relatives, doctors in Chandigarh had advised the family not to bathe the body of her dead husband before cremation as a precautionary measure. However, the family members did not heed them and Karamjit Kaur bathed the body with the help of some other relatives. She developed cough and fever after a few days and when she did not respond to treatment she was brought here yesterday.

Doctors treating her said the X-ray examination had revealed the presence of a pneumonic patch in her lungs and accordingly she was being treated for this. However, they said, they were conducting further tests on her to confirm if the patch was caused by plague infection since her husband had died recently of plague and she had been in close contact with him during his treatment.

Meanwhile, the Haryana Government has issued directions to the Health Department to take all possible steps to prevent the outbreak of this deadly disease in the state following reports of similar outbreak in Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal.

Karamjit Kaur, who was suspected to be suffering from plague and was admitted to the local General Hospital yesterday, has been referred to the PGI in Chandigarh for further treatment. This was officially stated here this evening.

Sushil Manav adds from Fatehabad: Teams of medical and paramedical staff have rushed to villages bordering the affected village Riyondh Khurd, to conduct a door-to-door survey.

The district Health Department has been put on alert. The Civil Surgeon, Dr V.K. Dogra, said 10 teams of medical and paramedical staff had been constituted and these were undertaking a survey to detect suspected cases.

The teams had already covered Bahmanwali, Kamana, Rosawali, Kamalgarh, Badalgarh and Rattangarh villages and till now no case had been detected. The teams were educating people regarding the symptoms of this disease and were being told to contact the health authorities in case of high fever and blood in sputum.

MANSA: Karamjit Kaur’s over two-year-old daughter has also reportedly developed symptoms of the disease.

A team of doctors from the Civil Hospital, Mansa, visited Riyoudh Khurd and gave medicines as a precautionary measure to those who joined the cremation ceremony of her husband.