One dies, 290 taken ill in Andhra Pradesh due to mysterious disease
Amaravati, Dec 7: The mysterious disease that began spreading in Eluru city in Andhra Pradesh claimed one life on Sunday even as about 292 residents fell sick.
More than 140 of the patients have returned home after treatment at hospital while the condition of others was stable, the West Godavari district medical and health officials said.
Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy spoke with AP Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney over phone and enquired about the situation and said the Centre was ready to extend any possible help.
The Union Home Ministry was also in touch with the Governor's office over this, official sources here said.
Nothing has yet been established as to what caused the disease that saw people suddenly falling unconscious after suffering from symptoms of fits and nausea.
Health authorities could not yet establish the cause of the sudden disease though blood tests and CT (brain) scan were performed.
Cerebral Spinal Fluid tests also turned out to be normal.
The probable cause could become evident only after the culture test results came in.
According to district Joint Collector Himanshu Shukla, E-coli results were also awaited.
Himanshu told PTI that expert scientists from the National Institute of Nutrition and Indian Institute of Chemical Technology from Hyderabad would arrive in Eluru on Monday for diagnosing the cause of the disease.
A 24x7 control room has been set up in the Eluru Municipal Corporation office.
Milk samples were also collected at random and sent for examination in Vijayawada.
A 45-year-old man, who was admitted to the GGH in Eluru this morning with symptoms of nausea and epilepsy, died in the evening.
Majority of the people who suffered the sickness had recovered within a few minutes but at least seven persons were shifted to the Government General Hospital in Vijayawada on Sunday for better treatment.
All the patients tested negative for COVID-19.
Special teams of doctors have been rushed to Eluru to treat the victims while a house-to-house survey has been undertaken to identify prospective patients.
State Health Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar also rushed to Eluru to review the situation and monitor the treatment.
BJP MP G V L Narasimha Rao, who spoke to state Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney, said a five-member team of doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences at Mangalagiri here was sent Eluru to treat the patients.
Rao said he spoke to AIIMS Delhi Director Randeep Guleria and other experts on the mysterious disease and also made them talk to the West Godavari district medical officials.
Poisonous organochlorine substances could be the mostly likely cause of the disease, the MP said after talking to the experts.
Expressing concern over the spread of the mysterious disease, state Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan directed the health authorities to ensure proper medicare to the afflicted persons.
Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has scheduled a visit to Eluru on Monday to visit the patients in the GGH and later hold a review meeting with the West Godavari district officials.
Deputy Chief Minister (Health) A K K Srinivas (Nani), who represents Eluru, said tests established that water contamination was not the cause of the mysterious disease.
Nani visited the hospital again on Sunday and took stock of the situation and said there was no need to panic.
"Most of the victims have recovered and others are stable. We have readied 50 beds in the GGH in Vijayawada to shift patients, if required.
Our medical teams are attending to every patient," the Deputy Chief Minister said.
TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh too visited the hospital and spoke to the victims.
He blamed the Jagan Mohan Reddy governments negligence for the disease outbreak, though initially it was suspected that water contamination caused it.
Expressing anguish over 290 people falling ill, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu demanded a full-fledged inquiry into the disease outbreak and declaration of health emergency in Eluru city.
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MP boat tragedy: Death toll climbs to 13; body of last missing person recovered
Jabalpur (PTI): The bodies of a five-year-old boy and his uncle were recovered from Bargi Dam in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district on Sunday morning, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy to 13, police said.
The boat, around 20 years old and operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening.
"The bodies of Mayuram (5) and his uncle Kamraj (around 50), an employee of the Ordnance Factory in Khamaria, were found floating and were fished out of the dam," Bargi Sub Divisional Officer of Police Anjul Ayank Mishra told PTI over the phone.
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All 13 missing persons identified have now been accounted for, he said, adding the bodies were sent to a government hospital for postmortem.
Teams comprising around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, along with personnel from the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, were involved in the search operation, the police said.
Of the 41 identified passengers on board the vessel, 28 were rescued after the incident, according to the police.
The CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat, though the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far, they said.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the incident and dismissed three crew members. It also banned the operation of similar vessels in the state.
