A mysterious disease spreading throughout India: "Nobody knows"

A mysterious disease spreading throughout India: "Nobody knows"

The disease was first discovered on Saturday night in the ancient city of Eluru, in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, known for its handmade wicker products. People suddenly got cramps and seizures, says Dr Geeta Prasadini, director of public health.

Since then, symptoms - from nausea and anxiety to loss of consciousness - have been reported in 546 patients admitted to hospitals. Many have recovered and been released home, but 148 are still in treatment, said Dasari Nagarjuna, a government spokesperson, according to Voice of America.

Teams of experts arrived in the city from the most important Indian scientific institutes. Various theories have been put forward and are now being tested. The most recent hypothesis is contamination of food by pesticides.

“But nobody knows," Prasadini admitted. Experts are confused by the fact that, by all accounts, there is no common point that connects hundreds of people who have fallen ill.

All of the patients have tested negative for COVID-19 and other viral diseases such as dengue, chikungunya or herpes. They aren't related to each other. They don't all live in the same area. They're from different age groups, including about 70 children, but very few are elderly. Initially, contaminated water was suspected. However, the office of the minister confirmed that people who don't use water from the municipal water supply have also fallen ill, and the initial tests of water samples did not reveal any harmful chemicals.

A 45-year-old man with the single name Sridhar was hospitalized with symptoms resembling epilepsy and died Sunday evening, doctors said. Prasadini said his autopsy didn’t shed any light on the cause of death.

"The hypothesis currently being tested is that people ate vegetables tainted with pesticides made of organic compounds containing phosphorus. But this is an “assumption” based on the fact that such pesticides are commonly used in the area and not on any evidence", Prasadini said. She added that experts were testing to see if pesticides had contaminated fish ponds or spilled over to vegetables.

Opposition leader N. Chandrababu Naidu demanded on Twitter an “impartial, full-fledged inquiry into the incident.”

Andhra Pradesh state is among those worst hit by COVID-19, with over 800.000 detected cases.