More than 500 people have been admitted to hospital in South East India due to an unidentified disease, said Dola Joshi Roy, district superintendent of West Godavari district in Eluru. Patients reported a number of symptoms, including seizures, loss of consciousness and some nausea over the weekend, Roy said. The office of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has said that the preliminary results of an investigation by the All India Medical Sciences (AIMS) team have found lead and nickel particles in the patient’s blood samples. “Similarly, the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) is conducting tests and the results are awaited,” the Reddy office said in a statement. Andhra Pradesh Health and Family Welfare Commissioner Kattamneni Bhaskar said the AIIMS team in Delhi tested 10 blood samples and found traces of lead and nickel. A further 20 samples are being sent from Andhra Pradesh to Delhi, and milk samples are also being tested. Bhaskar told CNN that water samples tested by AIIMS in Delhi did not find traces of lead and nickel. As many as 505 people were hospitalized, 300 were evacuated and one died, Roy said Tuesday. “Public health workers and other departmental staff should also investigate this issue in depth and find out the causes of the disease,” Reddy said. This comes as India continues to fight the Govt-19 epidemic, with the second highest incidence in the world. . Andhra Pradesh is one of the worst affected states in the country. CNN’s Riya Mogul, Vedika Sood and Deepak Rao reported. .
Source