Rajouri Tragedy: Four More Hospitalised As Mysterious Illness In Jammu And Kashmir Claims 17 Lives

J-K News: Four residents, including three sisters, of Badhaal village in the Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, where a strange illness has killed 17 people in the last 1.5 months, have been sent to hospitals. The reason for the fatalities, which occurred in three families on Wednesday, is still being investigated by a central team. More than 200 samples have been sent to various institutions for examination, according to a top doctor involved in the investigations.

After their health unexpectedly deteriorated on Wednesday, three sisters, aged 16 to 22, were sent from Badhaal to the Government Medical College (GMC), Rajouri. According to the officials, Javid Ahmad, a 24-year-old severely ill patient, was sent from GMC Rajouri to PGI Chandigarh on Tuesday night.

According to them, all four are close relatives of the three families whose members died of the unexplained sickness.

As part of its probe, the inter-ministerial team from New Delhi has been at Badhaal in Kotranka subdivision for the third day in a row, according to the officials.

Senior district, health, and police officials briefed the delegation led by a director-rank officer in the Ministry of Home Affairs when they arrived at Rajouri district headquarters on Sunday evening. It's camping in Rajouri town.

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Shuja Qadri, a senior epidemiologist and head of the Community Medicines Department at GMC Rajouri, stated that all investigations conducted thus far have revealed that the deaths in the village were not caused by any communicable disease. So the investigation has been reduced to identifying toxic substances in food items.

"Based on our epidemiological investigation, as of now, we have reached some probable conclusions, which will be confirmed by lab diagnosis... it is something which is connected with food," Qadri, who is part of the investigations, told PTI.

The 17 deaths in Badhaal, around 55 kilometres from Rajouri, occurred between December 7 and January 19. The patients complained of fever, discomfort, nausea, excessive sweating, and loss of consciousness before passing away within days after being admitted to the hospital.

Earlier, a Jammu and Kashmir government official stated that examinations and samples demonstrated that the events were not caused by a communicable disease of bacterial or viral origin, and that there is no public health concern. Following the discovery of neurotoxins in the deceased's samples, police formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT). National Conference (NC) leader and local MLA Javaid Iqbal Choudhary stated that the situation in the hamlet is difficult, but all required procedures are in place to address it.