A hepatitis E and A outbreak in Odisha, India, linked to contaminated drinking water, spread across multiple districts through early 2015.
Key Facts
- Primary pathogen
- Hepatitis E (also Hepatitis A)
- Origin location
- Sambalpur, Odisha, India
- Suspected cause
- Contaminated PHED drinking water supply
- Spread by Feb 2015
- Bolangir, Cuttack, Khurda, Jajpur districts
- Outbreak start
- 2014
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The outbreak is believed to have originated from contamination of drinking water supplied by the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) in Sambalpur, Odisha. Inadequate water safety allowed hepatitis E and hepatitis A pathogens to enter the public water supply, creating conditions for a widespread epidemic.
Beginning in 2014 in Sambalpur, the outbreak was initially called the Sambalpur jaundice outbreak due to jaundice being the predominant symptom. Laboratory investigation identified the primary infectious agents as Hepatitis E and Hepatitis A viruses, prompting reclassification as the 2014 Odisha hepatitis outbreak.
By February 2015, the outbreak had not been brought under control and had spread beyond Sambalpur to Bolangir district and coastal districts including Cuttack, Khurda, and Jajpur, indicating a failure to contain transmission and raising concerns about regional water infrastructure safety.