'Mystery' illness in Sukma village claims 13 lives in a month

RAIPUR: A mysterious illness has claimed 13 lives within a month in a remote village in insurgency-hit Sukma district of Chhattisgarh. The administration, however, says there have been five recent deaths, the cause of only two of which is yet to be ascertained.

News of the deaths in Dhanikorta took time to reach the administration. A health team was immediately rushed to the village, around 30km from the district headquarters. All the victims complained of chest pain and persistent coughing before their deaths, said sources.

Nearly every household in this small hamlet close to Odisha border is affected, the sources said, adding that residents are in panic.

Sukma chief medical and health officer Dr Kapil Dev Kashyap told TOI that there have been five deaths "in recent past". "Three died in the district hospital due to age-related ailments and the causes of the other two are being ascertained. The main reason, our health teams have found, is the change in weather, coinciding with mahua harvest time, when villagers go into the forests and collect mahua the whole day. This is leading to dehydration and they are falling sick," he said. Kashyap said villagers are given ORS as they are adamant on going to forest to gather mahua.

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