Four die in AP, adulterated milk suspected to be cause

Rajahmundry: Four persons, including two women, died of acute renal failure over the last 48 hours in Rajahmundry city in Andhra Pradesh, while around 10 have been hospitalised. Most of those affected are over 65 years old, and all of them are suspected to have consumed adulterated milk, leading to anuria (a critical medical condition defined by a near-total absence of urine production) which is believed to have led to the deaths.Milk vendor Addala Ganeswara Rao, who supplied milk to all the affected families in the area, has been taken into custody. He was reportedly running an unauthorised dairy farm, Varalakshmi Dairy, at Narasapuram village. The dairy has been sealed and milk samples have been sent to labs in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, and Hyderabad for testing. The reports are expected in the next 72 hours, officials said.
Officials have also collected milk samples from 75 families out of 106 which were supplied milk by Rao. Special teams have arrived from Vijayawada to monitor the situation. The deceased were identified as N Seshagiri Rao (72), Radhakrishna Murthy (74), Tadi Krishnaveni (76), and Tadi Ramani (58).Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu held an emergency review meeting with health officials and announced an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the deceased.East Godavari collector Keerthi Chekuri said the suspected anuria cases were reported from Swaroop Nagar and Choudeswar Nagar areas of Rajahmundry. "Rapid response teams are conducting house to house surveys. Around 12 persons have been admitted to different hospitals in the city. Their families were supplied milk by the same dairy farm," Chekuri said.Symptoms of renal failure, according to locals, began a day after Maha Shivratri on Feb 15. Vanaja, a local resident, noted that the same vendor had been supplying milk to her family for five years. However, she said on the day after the festival, the milk tasted bitter and smelled unusual. She disposed of it and complained to the vendor immediately, adding that many others also avoided the milk due to its strange taste. "My neighbour, who consumed the milk on that day, fell ill," she said.State health minister Satya Kumar Yadav said the blood samples from members of the 106 families who consumed the suspected adulterated milk have been sent for testing. "Preliminary analysis found their urea and creatinine levels to be abnormally high. The postmortem findings and samples taken from the deceased are being sent to the regional forensic lab. As many as 14 medical camps have been set up in affected areas in Rajahmundry," he said.District animal husbandry officer T Srinivasa Rao said the accused milk vendor collects milk from 46 buffaloes belonging to 42 farmers in Narsapuram village. "The health of people living in Narsapuram who consumed milk from the same vendor, the health of the cattle and of the farmers who supplied milk to this vendor are good. But we will get a clear picture once the test results are out, which will take two to three days," he said.