Patna, Sep 1 (Inditop.com) Around a dozen labourers from Bihar who returned to their native village from Bangalore after the swine flu panic are being ostracized by the villagers who fear they might have contracted the virus and could infect them.
The labourers were socially boycotted in village Kumarpur under Baryarpur block in Munger district, about 150 km from here, as villagers feared they would spread the H1N1 virus, a health official said Tuesday.
“Most of the villagers are not speaking with them or welcoming them at tea and betel nut shops or any public place in the village,” he said.
Ashok Sahni, Nukul Sahni, Gautam Sahni, Bahadur Sahni and Vikas Sahni, all in their late 20s, were working as labourers in Bangalore.
They returned to their village three days ago when swine flu cases began to rise in the Karnataka capital. But they are being treated like untouchables in their village.
“Soon after they arrived in the village they told their friends and neighbours that the fear of swine flu in Bangalore drove them back to the village. The news spread that they may have the H1N1 infection, and villagers began boycotting them,” a police official said.
Baryarpur block government medical officer Balram Sah, who examined the labourers, told Inditop over phone that no symptom of swine flu was found in them.
“I checked the men after rumours spread that they were suffering from the disease, but they are healthy and normal,” he said.
Last month, Bihar reported its first swine flu case with a senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official testing positive for the viral disease.
