Koraput (Orissa), Aug 19 : Outbreak of diarrhoea has spread panic among the villagers in Orissa''s Koraput District.

The outbreak is threatening the lives of the people living in a remote area of the state. The main reason behind the spread of the disease is the lack of clean drinking water and basic sanitation facilities in the area.

Villagers fear that people might fall prey to the outbreak like last year when the disease claimed hundreds of lives during the rainy season.

According to government reports, two persons have reportedly died at Totaguda village of Nandpur block of Koraput District so far.

An alert has been sounded in the area and medical teams have been pressed into service, but had difficulty in reaching the interiors due to absence of road connectivity coupled with heavy rains in the affected villages.

"This village does not have proper roads, nor does it have any clean drinking water. They drink contaminated water. So, when the village head called us and said that if the doctors don''t come all of us would die, we rushed to them immediately," said Soubhagya Ray, a doctor.

Diarrhoea is caused due to consumption of rotten food and drinking polluted water. The problem escalates when drinking water is in short supply, forcing people to use water from contaminated sources.

At its most acute levels, diarrhoea worsens to cholera that can result in death due to severe dehydration and kidney failure. (ANI)