300 hospitalised in Indian district, health minister says ‘mystery illness’

[Mation]

This is worrying.

Andhra Pradesh: 300 fall sick in Eluru, health minister says ‘mystery illness’

While officials initially suspected contaminated drinking water or air pollution to be the cause, both were ruled out by Sunday evening.

indianexpress.com

At least 300 persons –– including several children, some as young as 4 years old –– have taken ill in Eluru in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh since Saturday evening. While officials initially suspected contaminated drinking water or air pollution to be the cause, both were ruled out by Sunday evening. Health Minister A Kali Krishna Srinivas said blood samples and swabs have been sent for lab analysis, with reports awaited.
...

“We ruled out water contamination or air pollution as the cause after officials visited the areas where people fell sick. Water samples were sent for testing and no contamination was found. Blood samples of the patients have been sent to labs. No viral infection has been detected. All the patients are COVID-19 negative. It is some mystery illness and only lab analysis will reveal what it is,” Srinivas said.

“All the patients are out of danger. Of the 300-odd affected, about 125 have been discharged by Sunday evening,” the health minister added.

Hope they all make a complete recovery, and that someone works out what caused it. 2020 is bad enough already, ta!

 

[SheilaNaGig]

One dead.


Symptoms include epilepsy* which suggests some kind of nerve damage.

Andhra Pradesh: 1 dead, over 150 still in hospital as mystery illness sweeps Eluru

Officials suspect this to be a case of consumption of contaminated water. Samples have been taken from the Eluru Government General Hospital in Andhra Pradesh's West Godavari district to ascertain the cause of this illness.

www.indiatoday.in

*
ETA For clarity etc
as LynnDoyleCooper points out below, epilepsy isn’t a symptom it’s a condition. Seizures have been reported as one of the symptoms but the news reports use the word epilepsy.

 

[Teaboy]

Its all very strange.

My immediate thought was something airborne or waterborne likely through some sort of chemical contamination / pollution. That seems to have been dismissed pretty quickly by the authorities though. From what I've read it just doesn't sound like an infectious disease but I'm certainly no expert.

Must be very scary for anyone living in the region.

 

[SheilaNaGig]

I know nothing about the city but Wikipedia tells me they have a research facility there. (I was thinking about Bhopal and wondering if there was a factory nearby.)

Indian Council of Agricultural Research - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

At a glance it doesn’t look like anything dodgy happens there.

 

[LDC]

One dead.


Symptoms include epilepsy, which suggests some kind of nerve damage.

Andhra Pradesh: 1 dead, over 150 still in hospital as mystery illness sweeps Eluru

Officials suspect this to be a case of consumption of contaminated water. Samples have been taken from the Eluru Government General Hospital in Andhra Pradesh's West Godavari district to ascertain the cause of this illness.

www.indiatoday.in

Seizures rather than epilepsy to be medically pedantic?

Burning eyes and vomiting, sounds more pollution related maybe, although water and air contamination have been 'ruled out' according to that Indian Express report?

 

[SheilaNaGig]

Seizures rather than epilepsy to be medically pedantic?

Burning eyes and vomiting, sounds more pollution related maybe, although water and air have been 'ruled out' according to that Indian Express report?

Yes, thanks for the clarification. I was being very lazy and merely repeating what was written in the reports.



ETA One of the reports says they’re waiting for the results of tests for chronic fatigue to come back...

 

[SheilaNaGig]

Seizures rather than epilepsy to be medically pedantic?

Burning eyes and vomiting, sounds more pollution related maybe, although water and air contamination have been 'ruled out' according to that Indian Express report?

And giddiness, headaches too.

Whatever it is, sounds complicated and nasty.

 

[LDC]

Yes, thanks for the clarification. I was being very lazy and merely repeating what was written in the reports.



ETA One of the reports says they’re waiting for the results of tests for chronic fatigue to come back...

There aren't tests for chronic fatigue though are there? I suspect that's also something that's been lost in translation.

 

[SheilaNaGig]

There aren't tests for chronic fatigue though are there? I suspect that's also something that's been lost in translation.

Exactly, that was my point. Hence the dot..dot..dot bit at the end.
I suppose I ought to have used “” marks around some of it.

Although, it’s unlikey to be translation, English is widely and well spoken in India.

 

[bimble]

Its all very strange.

My immediate thought was something airborne or waterborne likely through some sort of chemical contamination / pollution. That seems to have been dismissed pretty quickly by the authorities though.

Yes, extremely quickly. "We ruled out water contamination or air pollution as the cause after officials visited the areas where people fell sick,".. "It is some mystery illness .." said the state's health minister.
let's see.

 

[LDC]

Worth a read as well.

Mass psychogenic illness - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And something more academic on a case in Bengal in 2003:

An epidemic of mass hysteria in a village in West Bengal

This is a report of an outbreak of mass hysteria, attributed to an unknown infectious disease, in a small village near Baruipur, South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. The epidemic was triggered following the death of 2 persons of the same family ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Not at all saying this is that, but worth bearing in mind as a very outside possibility.

 

[planetgeli]

The opposition Telugu Desam Party are convinced it's water contamination and a cover-up.

Can there be a more unfortunate & bigger failure than this? The Eluru water contamination incident calls for a declaration of Health Emergency in Andhra Pradesh. Enough.

The #Eluru incident is just the tip of an iceberg. The Govt's negligence & the deterioration of healthcare services across AP stands exposed today. It's a shame for any Govt if it can't provide basic necessities like safe & clean drinking water to our people

 

[SheilaNaGig]

I wondered about that too LynnDoyleCooper

Like, as some kind of fear response to Covid .

 

[SheilaNaGig]

The opposition Telugu Desam Party are convinced it's water contamination and a cover-up.

They have a freshwater lake nearby that’s a protected bird sanctuary.

Wouldn’t a drinking water issue be more geographically wide spread? Or is piped water unavailable outside the city limits?

 

[SheilaNaGig]

This says there was something kind of water problem 10 days ago but gives no details.

Also suggests viral encephalitis. And says that water facilities have not been cleaned for 18 months.

But it’s from 20 hours ago, and I think the water was said to be clean since then.

And would bad water cause the eyes to burn?

Water contamination suspected as 227 fall sick in Andhra's Eluru

A suspected incident of water contamination is believed to be the reason behind falling ill of at least 227 persons in the West Godavari district of Andhra.

thefederal.com

 

[SheilaNaGig]

”As of now, the sickness didn't spread from a person to another. There is no age restriction for the sickness. People from areas where Eluru municipal's water distribution is not available also fell sick. Even those who drink only mineral water daily also fell sick," the collector said.

”The officials said that they have conducted tests for drinking water from various parts of the town, all reports are normal. Tests for the presence of heavy metals in water, they are also at the normal level. Tests for viruses are also conducted, they are also in normal condition," the release said

Water quality ruled out for 340 falling sick due to a mystery disease in AP town

A report released by the Eluru district collector said that157 are still undergoing treatment and that one person has died while 168 have been discharged.'People from areas where Eluru municipal's water distribution is not available also fell sick,' states the report

www.livemint.com

 

[LDC]

...And would bad water cause the eyes to burn?
...

If used for washing faces, I guess maybe? It is a funny mix of symptoms which made me think of possibly a psychogenic outbreak.

 

[SheilaNaGig]

If used for washing faces, I guess maybe? It is a funny mix of symptoms which made me think of possibly a psychogenic outbreak.

Yes, we’re on the same page re: possible psychogenic aetiology



It could be wrong of course but that livemint report says that people who drink only mineral water have also succumbed. I guess they’d be washing and maybe cooking with municipal water though.

Have any animals become unwell? Fishes? Domestic animals would be exposed to municiple water, livestock may or may not be.

 

[SheilaNaGig]

If used for washing faces, I guess maybe? It is a funny mix of symptoms which made me think of possibly a psychogenic outbreak.

We know that Covid can affect the NS, RS etc .....is that knowledge/ fear feeding into some kind of psychogenic story? Or is it a similarly fiendish novel virus (they’ve all tested negative for Covid so it’s not a virulent mutation)? Or some kind of agent that somehow affects different tissue systems (how though) or maybe some common factor, like.... dunno... hormones? Enzymes? Somethings intracellular? Na +/ K+ pump?

 

[Aladdin]

Could it be a neurotoxin?
Or a chemical attack?

 

[Mation]

Could it be a neurotoxin?
Or a chemical attack?

And would bad water cause the eyes to burn?

Something in the rain, if there's been any?

If it's not something obvious, I suspect we won't know for quite some time.

It must be appalling to suspect it is in the drinking water but not have any other option. Poor people

 

[LDC]

The Guardian report here saying one died, but from a heart attack, so possibly coincidental rather than caused by the illness...? Interesting to see what comes out of it. Organo-phosphate poisoning from agricultural run-off as another wild card cause?

Mystery illness puts 450 in hospital in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh

One patient died, and officials looking into possible food or water contamination

www.theguardian.com

 

[LDC]

Just as an aside, even though I was young the Bhopal 'incident' was quite a politically significant event for me.

Bhopal disaster - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Mation]

Not much rain over the past week, but there has been fog.

Past Weather in Eluru, Andhra Pradesh, India — Yesterday or Further Back

Weather reports from the last weeks in Eluru with highs and lows

www.timeanddate.com

That can carry mercury. No idea what would happen to any neurotoxin after fog had cleared, and how you'd detect it.

2hats?

 

[frogwoman]

There was a nasty outbreak in Senegal a few weeks back which was pollution related.

 

[LDC]

It can only be a limited number of things I think; viral, bacterial, fungal, pollution/contamination, parasites, and psychological. And suspect bacterial, parasites, and fungal could be discounted very easily, and I think viral would be highly unlikely, so probably either pollution/contamination or psychological, or maybe first that triggers the second?

 

[SheilaNaGig]

There was a nasty outbreak in Senegal a few weeks back which was pollution related.

Outbreak of what ?

 

[SheilaNaGig]

This report says that symptoms range from nervousness & anxiety to loss of consciousness.

It also says that the district has been very hard hit by Covid and healthcare is stretched thin. So maybe the fear factor is correspondingly high?

200 in hospital, one dead, as India investigates mystery illness

All have tested negative for Covid-19

www.leicestermercury.co.uk

Looking at google for signs & symptoms of acute mercury poisoning and the effects of mercury fumes, it seems that it would be easy to spot, and these reports don’t look like a particularly good fit, although there are some possible indicators for Hg.

 

[frogwoman]

Outbreak of what ?

A skin disease among sailors which sounded similar to this. I'm at work but will get the link when I'm done

 

[SheilaNaGig]

A skin disease among sailors which sounded similar to this. I'm at work but will get the link when I'm done

This?

Over 500 Fishermen Hit By Mysterious Skin Disease In Senegal

More than five hundred fishermen in Senegal have contracted a mysterious skin disease after returning from sea, a senior government health official said on Thursday.

www.ndtv.com