The authorities in J&K are closely monitoring the situation in Budhal Village, Rajouri, where a mysterious disease has claimed 15 lives and one more child admitted to SMGS hospital remains critical.
After the detailed investigations by the SIT, the samples empirically indicate that the incidents are not due to a communicable disease of bacterial or viral origin and that there is no public health angle. Additionally, all samples tested negative for any viral or bacterial etiology.
The samples from the affected village have been tested in some of the top labs across the country, they said.
These include the National Institute of Virology Pune, the National Centre for Disease Control New Delhi, the National Institute of Toxicology and Research Lucknow, the Defence Research Development Establishment Gwalior, and the Microbiology Department of PGIMER Chandigarh, besides the ICMR-Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory, GMC Jammu.
A total of 15 people, including a family of seven got ill after consuming a community meal, resulting in the deaths of five on December 7, 2024.
Subsequently, on December 12, 2024, a family of nine got infected, claiming three more lives.
A month later on January 12, 2025, a family of ten fell ill after consuming another community meal, with six more children admitted to hospital.
Meanwhile, the government took several steps to find the root cause of the mysterious illness.
The minister for health and medical education, Sakina Itoo, also visited the incident spot along with other cabinet colleagues and directed health officials to find the cause of the mysterious illness.
Furthermore, experts from some of the reputed institutions of the country have been arranged to manage the situation and the causative factors of the deaths.
Secretary Department of Health Research, MOHFW, and DG ICMR Govt of India Dr. Rajeev Bahl held a video conference to discuss strategies and steps to rule out any epidemic.
A team of state rapid response experts, including epidemiologists, microbiologists, and others from DHS Jammu, GMC Jammu, and Rajouri, visited the area to conduct detailed screening and collect contact tracing samples.
Experts from NCDC, NIV Pune, and PGI Chandigarh also visited the area to assist in containing the situation. The toxicological analysis conducted by CSIR-IITR has detected toxins in multiple biological samples.
Meanwhile, a special investigation team (SIT) has been tasked with finding out the exact causes of the deaths.
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