Over 300 fall ill to ‘mysterious disease’ in Andhra Pradesh's Eluru, Central team to probe
After hundreds of people were hospitalised with complaints of multiple symptoms, Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Monday visited Eluru Government Hospital and assured them of all help.
FollowHyderabad: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is sending a Central team to Eluru in Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari district, where 340 people have fallen sick due to an unknown disease. The team will be submitting a report by tomorrow evening.
Water and milk samples were also sent to the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad for analysis of heavy metal content, sources in the Medical and Health Department said.
After hundreds of people were hospitalised with complaints of multiple symptoms, Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Monday visited Eluru Government Hospital and assured them of all help.
Currently, 157 patients are receiving treatment while 168 others have been discharged. One person has succumbed to the mysterious disease. Of all the affected persons, 307 hail from Eluru town, 30 from Eluru's rural areas and three from Denduluru.
People afflicted with the mysterious disease suddenly fell unconscious after suffering from fits and nausea. It started in the one-town area of Eluru. Most of the victims were in the 20-30 age group while there were about 45 children below the age of 12 years.
West Godavari District Collector R Muthyala Raju said, “Some of these people complained of seizures, anxiety, vomiting, and headache. So far, the illness has not spread from one to another person. People living in other areas, where Eluru Municipality does not supply drinking water, have also fallen ill.”
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy said the Central team, comprising Dr Jamshed Nayar, Associate Professor (Emergency Medicine) at AIIMS, New Delhi; Dr. Avinash Deoshtawar, virologist at NIV, Pune; and Dr Sanket Kulkarni, Deputy Director at National Centre for Disease Control, New Delhi, will reach Eluru Tuesday and try to find out the root causes for the illness.
