Doctors have ruled out Japanese Encephalitis, Dengue, Hepatitis and Rabies.
Nearly 400 people have contracted a mystery illness at Eluru in Andhra Pradesh -- 150 of the 380 patients are admitted in hospitals. One person, a 45-year-old, died on December 5. It is not clear yet what is causing the disease. People suffer fits and nausea and fall unconscious.
The symptoms include convulsions, seizure and neurological symptoms and they are the same across age groups and gender, said state health commissioner K Bhasker Rao.
Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy has visited a government hospital in Eluru, where 150 people are admitted. Mr Reddy's predecessor, Chandrababu Naidu, has demanded that a health emergency be declared in the area.
Doctors have ruled out the known virus spectrum -- Japanese Encephalitis, Dengue, Hepatitis and Rabies. None of the patients have tested positive for Covid either, Mr Rao said.
The doctors are yet to pin-point the source of infection, Mr Rao said.
While the patients -- who belong to 34 out of 62 ward secretariats in Eluru municipality -- may have been using the same water, tests showed the water is safe. The presence of 27 heavy metals has been ruled out and the impurities are within permissible limits, he added.
Teams from the World Health Organisation, the Indian Council of Medical Research, All-India Institute of Medical Sciences are looking at the samples, Mr Rao said. Representatives from Hyderabad-based organisations -- National Institute of Nutrition, India, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, and Indian Institute of Chemical Technology -- are also looking into the matter.
Samples of blood, urine and cerebrospinal fluid have showed no complication. Doctors are now waiting for culture reports, Mr Rao said. A 24x7 control room has been set up in Eluru.
