Hundreds hospitalised with 'mystery illness' in Andhra Pradesh

Local people are blaming an anti-mosquito spraying campaign for a mystery illness that has hospitalised more than 450 people in a city in southern India.

A 45-year-old man died of epilepsy-type symptoms and hundreds of others complained of nausea, burning eyes and seizures in the town of Eluru in Andhra Pradesh.

A report released by the district collector said on Monday morning that as many as 340 people have fallen sick since Saturday night, with 157 still undergoing treatment. However, a hospital official laters said that 470 people had been admitted so far.

Locals in Eluru, which is known as mosquito city, have said authorities have conducted a mosquito-fogging campaign.

One local man, Dhananjay Kumar, said: "Authorities have been spraying anti-mosquito chemicals in the area, creating a massive fog. It seems the chemicals sprayed by authorities led to the disease.”

However, health officials in Andhra Pradesh say the exact cause of the illness is still to be determined.

"We were informed by some locals that anti-mosquito spray resulted in the infection. As of now, I can only say the exact cause of the disease is not known yet. We have sent samples to AIIMS [medical school] in New Delhi and expect the reports on Tuesday morning, " said a senior health official in Andhra Pradesh.

However, health officials told the Telegraph preliminary analysis of various test reports have established the role of organochlorine substances used in anti-mosquito fogging.

Organochlorine pesticides are chlorinated hydrocarbons used in agriculture and mosquito control. The compounds include DDT that is widely used in anti-mosquito fogging.

Dr AVR Mohan, medical superintendent of Eluru's district hospital, where all the patients have been admitted, said a "toxic substance" was most likely to blame.

"We have ruled out viral or bacterial aetiology. We are thinking more of some chemical or pesticide or some toxic substance that has contaminated food or water. We are investigating in that direction and have collected water samples from 22 different localities. By Friday we will have the diagnosis, " he said

Blood tests and brain scans of the infected patients could not establish the cause of the disease. All of those who were hospitalised have tested negative for Covid-19, according to the state’s Health Minister, Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas.

Andhra Pradesh has the third-highest caseload of any state in India with 800,000, despite being the 10th most populous state.

“We ruled out water contamination or air pollution as the cause after officials visited the areas where people fell sick,” Mr Srinivas said, although this has been disputed.

He added that both blood and water samples have been sent off for lab analysis. The Andhra Pradesh Health Department released a statement saying that initial tests did not reveal any viral infection. This rules out diseases such as dengue or chikungunya, which are both caused by mosquito bites.

However, the state’s former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has called for a full inquiry into the outbreak, pointing to water contamination as the likely cause.

“I demand an impartial, full-fledged inquiry into the incident,” he wrote on Twitter. “The Eluru water contamination incident calls for a declaration of Health Emergency in Andhra Pradesh.”

A report in the Indian Express claimed that a case of contaminated water was reported in Eluru 10 days prior to the hospitalisations.

The current Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy said specialist medical teams have been dispatched and are conducting door-to-door surveys in order to get control of the situation.

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