Garhwa: In a significant step towards strengthening public health preparedness, the district administration has approved the formation of a One Health Committee and a District Joint Outbreak Response Team (DJORT) to improve surveillance, early detection and rapid response to infectious and zoonotic diseases.
The decision was taken during a district-level meeting chaired by Deputy Commissioner Pashupati Nath Mishra at the Collectorate auditorium. The Deputy Commissioner approved the proposed action plan and directed all concerned departments to work in close coordination to ensure effective implementation of the One Health framework.
The meeting reviewed the Union Health Ministry’s guidelines and the National One Health Programme for Prevention and Control of Zoonoses. District Epidemiologist Dr Santosh Kumar Mishra presented a detailed overview of the district’s disease surveillance system, recent outbreak trends and the proposed structure of DJORT.
Officials highlighted that the One Health approach integrates human, animal and environmental health to strengthen prevention, surveillance and control of diseases such as rabies, leptospirosis, scrub typhus, anthrax, brucellosis, vector-borne infections, and food- and water-borne diseases.
According to data presented during the meeting, Garhwa has recorded 12 disease outbreaks in 2026, involving 80 cases and three deaths. Surveillance data further showed 3,098 syndromic cases, 1,564 presumptive cases and laboratory examination of 1,011 samples, of which 49 tested positive.
Concern was also expressed over the rising number of dog-bite incidents in the district. Officials noted that 1,620 dog-bite cases have been reported so far, underlining the need for coordinated efforts to prevent rabies through vaccination, surveillance and public awareness.
To ensure rapid outbreak response, the newly approved DJORT will function through four specialised units: Food and Water-Borne Disease Team, Vector-Borne Disease Team, Vaccine-Preventable Disease Team, and Zoonotic Disease Team. These teams will include experts from the health, animal husbandry, agriculture, forest, food safety, environment and drinking water sectors.
Deputy Commissioner Mishra stressed that timely sharing of information among departments is crucial, as human, animal and environmental health are closely interconnected. He directed officials to immediately report any potential outbreaks and undertake joint field investigations and control measures whenever required.
The meeting also approved a 90-day implementation roadmap, which includes the establishment of institutional mechanisms, nomination of departmental nodal officers, strengthening information-sharing systems, joint training programmes, simulation exercises, field drills and risk communication initiatives.
Officials expressed confidence that the integrated One Health mechanism and the joint response teams would significantly enhance Garhwa’s capacity for disease surveillance, outbreak management and public health protection through coordinated inter-departmental action.
The meeting was attended by senior officials from the health, forest, animal husbandry, food safety and allied departments, including divisional forest officers, the civil surgeon, surveillance officers and district-level programme managers.
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