Jan 22: District Magistrate Rajouri today declared crisis-hit Badhaal village in Kotranka Sub Division as containment zone while four more people, including three sisters, have been shifted to hospital from Badhaal village today where a ‘mysterious illness’ has claimed 17 lives over the past 47 days.While a Central team constituted by the Union Home Ministry continued its investigation into the cause of the deaths, which took place in three families even today, Principal Govt Medical College Rajouri, Dr A S Bhatia today disclosed that the common factor among all the 17 deaths pertaining to Badhaal village is the “involvement of brain and damage to the nervous system”.Official sources told the Excelsior that three sisters, aged between 16 and 22, were shifted to the Government Medical College (GMC), Rajouri from Badhaal after their health suddenly deteriorated today. All the three —Tazeem Akhtar-22 yrs, Khalida Begum-18 yrs and Nazia Kouser-16, are daughters of Bagh Hussain alias Bagga, resident of Ranthal Morha in Badhaal village. Bagh Hussain is also said to be close relative of Mohd Rafiq.
All the three sisters were airlifted to GMC Jammu in an Indian Air Force helicopter from Rajouri with the intervention of Deputy Commissioner Rajouri Abhishek Sharma and the Divisional Administration.The fourth patient who was brought to GMC Rajouri from Badhaal village in the afternoon is Shabnam Akhtar -18 yrs, daughter of Mohd Jamil, resident of Badhaal village. She was also being referred to GMC Jammu on the request of family members and relatives. These patients had fever and some other little similar ailments, reports said.
Another serious patient, Javid Ahmad (25), was airlifted to PGI Chandigarh from GMC Jammu on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday. His condition was said to be stable this evening.
All the four patients of today are said to be close relatives of the three families that lost their members to the mysterious illness. .
Meanwhile, the inter-ministerial team from New Delhi visited Badhaal in Kotranka sub-division for the third straight day as part of its investigation, the officials said.
The team headed by a director-rank officer in the Ministry of Home Affairs reached Rajouri district headquarters on Sunday evening and was briefed by senior district, health and police officers. It is camping in Rajouri town.
A senior doctor part of the investigations, said, over 200 samples have been sent for testing to different institutes.
Forensic departments from Chandigarh and Lucknow, and teams from MHA are present here. A common factor in all the deaths is the involvement of the brain and damage to the nervous system,” Dr Bhatia said.
He also emphasised the recovery rate of the people affected by this ‘unidentified disease.’ “Out of 9 patients who were admitted to GMC Rajouri, 5 recovered. We have conducted preventive CT scans also, but recovery becomes tough once the brain gets involved,” Bhatia said.“We are hoping to find the cause (behind the illness) soon. We will educate the people and raise awareness among them like not to exchange foods,” he added.
While the exact cause of the illness remains unknown, authorities have ruled out bacterial or viral infections. Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, has assured citizens that the Health department, along with other departments, is working to understand the causes behind the incidents.
Senior Epidemiologist and head of Community Medicines Department, GMC Rajouri, Shuja Qadri said all the investigations so far make it clear that the deaths in the village were not the result of any communicable disease. So, the probe has been narrowed down to the identification of the toxin in food items.
“Based on our 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 said.
The 17 deaths in Badhaal, about 55 km from Rajouri town, took place between December 7 and January 19.
The patients complained of fever, pain, nausea, intense sweating and loss of consciousness before dying within days of admission to hospitals.
Earlier, a Jammu and Kashmir government spokesperson said investigations and samples empirically indicated that the incidents were not due to a communicable disease of bacterial or viral origin and that there is no public health angle.
Police have also set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) after certain neurotoxins were found in the samples of the deceased.
National Conference (NC) leader and local MLA Javaid Iqbal Choudhary said the situation in the village is tough but all necessary measures are in place to deal with it.
“The fresh cases have deepened the mystery and we are hopeful that the investigations by both local and central agencies will reach a conclusion soon,” he said.
