Madhya Pradesh declares black fungus a notified disease

The Madhya Pradesh government has declared black fungus or mucormycosis a notified disease in the state. The state Public Health and Family Welfare Department on Friday issued an order, in which it notified black fungus under the provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act and the Madhya Pradesh Public Health Act.

A notifiable disease is required by law to be reported to the government authorities. The collection of information allows the authorities to monitor the disease and provides early warning of possible outbreaks.

The order came after Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held a meeting on Friday evening, an official statement said.

"Black fungus is declared as an epidemic in the state. There should be good arrangements for treatment of this disease. The availability of Amphotericin B (used in the treatment of black fungus) should be ensured for those undergoing treatment," Chouhan said during the meeting.

Four persons died of mucormycosis, a serious but rare fungal infection now affecting coronavirus patients, in Damoh and Balaghat districts of the state, officials said on Friday.

As per the government order, the powers mentioned in the two Acts will be vested in district collectors, chief medical and health officers, civil surgeons, hospital superintendents, sub divisional officers and block medical officers.

This notification will be effective till the next order, it said.

On Thursday, the Centre had told the states and Union Territories to declare black fungus a notifiable disease, stating that the infection is leading to prolonged morbidity and mortality among COVID-19 patients.

Chouhan had held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday and briefed him about the status of black fungus disease in the state, an official said.

During the meeting held on Friday, the chief minister said that the positivity rate in Madhya Pradesh has dropped to 5.6 per cent.

The state on Friday reported 4,384 new coronavirus cases and 79 fatalities, taking the infection tally to 7,57,119 and the toll to 7,394, the health department said.

A total of 9,405 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the count of recoveries in the state to 6,82,100, it added.