Virus or pesticide behind mystery AP illness: AIIMS

AMARAVATI: The All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) said on Tuesday that

water

contaminated by a virus or pesticide might have triggered the “mystery” disease in

Eluru

town. A leading private lab in Vijayawada found high levels of pesticides, including

DDT

, in the drinking water.

A separate report by AIIMS Mangalagiri showed high levels of lead and nickel in the blood samples collected from patients.

A team comprising experts from AIIMS Delhi, National Institute of Virology, Pune, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, and National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, is zeroing in on the causative agent — a pesticide or virus, or a combination of both — that led to the hospitalisation of about 500 people in the last three days. The mysterious sicknesses began on December 6 when a number of people were hospitalised with symptoms that resembled those of epilepsy.

Eluru is served by two irrigation canals that are interlinked. While one canal originates in Rajahmundry, another takes birth in Vijayawada. Pesticides and fertilisers used by farmers en route are dumped into these canals, which serve as drinking water sources for thousands of villages and the Eluru city.

The expert team will collect samples from patients and send them to NIV Pune and other laboratories to find out why people were suffering sudden seizures.

Earlier, AIIMS (Mangalagiri) medical superintendent Rakesh Kakkar visited Eluru on Sunday and studied the case sheets of the patients and analysed possible reasons for the sudden illness. Patients exhibited seizures, convulsions, vomiting, foaming and tremors.

“Most of the 20 patients interviewed said there was a change in the colour and taste of the water. Some reported that there was a greenish/muddy discolouration of the household water supply,” AIIMS said in its preliminary report to the state government.

The Vijayawada lab report said dichlorodiphenyldichlorethane (DDD) was found at 14.21 and 15.23 per mg/l while the acceptable limit is just 0.0001. Similarly, alachlor, a herbicide, was found at 10.88, and methoxychlor, a pesticide, was recorded at 17.64, against the acceptable level of 0.001.

Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has ordered a probe.