India Faces Mass Hospitalizations As Mystery Disease Strikes

As coronavirus continues to spread across the world, a mysterious illness has been detected in India, with hundreds of people admitted to local hospitals and at least one dead. 

New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV) reports that nearly 400 people have contracted a mystery illness that has emerged in Eluru, India. At least one person died on Dec. 5. Local health officials are baffled and have yet to find the source of the illness.

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Those who contracted the mysterious illness in the city, which is in the state of Andhra Pradesh, experienced seizures, loss of consciousness, and nausea over the weekend. 

At least one dead and hundreds hospitalised in India’s Eluru town from an unidentified illness, with symptoms including seizures, dizziness, nausea, and headaches pic.twitter.com/IwaO1WcksC

— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) December 7, 2020

This comes as Andhra Pradesh is one of the worst-affected states of COVID-19. Doctors ruled out that none of the patients were infected with the virus. 

“All patients have tested negative for Covid-19,” Dolla Joshi Roy, the district surveillance officer of Eluru’s West Godavari District, told CNN, adding that about 180 patients out of the 300 who were admitted to the hospital have been discharged. At the same time, the rest are “stable.” She said the patient who died had similar symptoms to the others but then had a fatal but unrelated cardiac arrest. 

Andhra Pradesh’s Health Department published a notice that the patients’ initial blood tests didn’t detect any viral infection, such as dengue or chikungunya.

Government authorities are now testing water samples in Eluru for possible contamination after many of the patients said they received water from a similar source. 

“The cause is still unknown but still we are doing all kinds of testing, including testing food and milk,” said Roy

The mass hospitalization over the weekend has prompted a special team of doctors to arrive in the city early this week to conduct an investigation about possible sources of the illness. 

To find out the root causes for such sudden illness in Eluru, Andhra Pradesh, the GoI is in continuous discussion with State Authorities and the @MoHFW_INDIA, has deployed a Central Team of 3 Doctors to visit the region tomorrow and submit a preliminary report by evening. pic.twitter.com/8Ri0Vq9rB1

— G Kishan Reddy (@kishanreddybjp) December 7, 2020