The Jharkhand Government on Wednesday rushed doctors to Gumla district to verify reports from unofficial sources claiming that three persons had died of smallpox there.
According to the World Health Organisation, smallpox was totally eradicated from the world a decade ago. However, a local newspaper recently published a report claiming that three persons had died of the contagious disease here and five are suffering from it.
The Gumla Health Department has sent a team of medicos to verify the matter. Health Secretary A. K. Sarkar said: “We had heard the news that smallpox had resurfaced and the Health Department is in the process of authenticating the report.”