The deadly ‘mystery illness’ is disproportionately killing children, which account for 11 out of the 13 deaths, as health officials confirmed all those who have perished were related
Boffins remain stumped by a new “mystery illness” that has claimed the lives of 13 relatives in northern India. Medics have ruled out viral, bacterial or microbial infections in their investigation of the disease, which three more children died from in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district.
The probing doctors have identified “certain neurotoxins” that appear to have been found in samples from the 13 dead so far. Jammu and Kashmir’s Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo said India’s top medical experts had been enlisted to track down the source of the “mystery illness”.
The boffins – from three of India’s top universities – have conducted microbiological tests on water and food samples collected from the illness-stricken village. The deadly disease is disproportionately killing children, which make up 11 of the fatalities since December 7 last year.
An official spokesperson for the local authorities said: “These [deaths] were found to be localised and possibly having some epidemiological linkage. It was also given out that certain neurotoxins were found in the samples of the deceased persons, which is further investigated to know more about it.”
The chief secretary is said to have “impressed upon the health and police departments to assess the reports received from various institutions to identify the cause of the death and work in close coordination to take this investigation to its logical conclusion,” the spokesperson added.
Teams from India’s Health Department have been carrying out aggressive contact tracing and sampling in the village where the disease emerged, sources told the India Express.
A source said: “The department has already collected food and water samples to determine the quality and safety of essential supplies in the region. The administration has also stationed a mobile medical unit and ambulance on standby to address any emergent medical needs.”
Health and Medical Education Minister Sakina Itoo also ruled out viral infection or disease. She said the 3,500 samples collected by the health department over the past month and sent to various health institutions across the country for examination have come out “negative”.
“It’s now a matter of investigation for the district administration and the police to find out the causes of death of 13 people,” she added.
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