Amid the rising cases of the ‘mystery illness’ in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri that has claimed at least 17 lives, experts said that an organophosphorus toxin is causing the disease. According to sources, an antidote to counteract organophosphorus poisoning has been administered and it has worked well for patients who are admitted to hospital.

“We have used atropine antidote and it’s worked well. After the exact nature of the toxin was determined we gave atropine to patients” said a senior official.

While experts have been maintaining that it is a case of neurotoxins after ruling out communicable disease or outbreaks of viruses or bacteria behind deaths in Badhaal village, determining the exact nature of toxins had become a challenge and deepened the mystery. On Sunday, the Food Safety Standards Authority of India finally conveyed to the Jammu and Kashmir health department that organophosphorus had been found and it was the reason behind deaths.

“Now it’s a matter of investigation if the use of organophosphorus in the food and water is homicidal or accidental,” said an official.

The Jammu and Kashmir police have formed a special investigation team, or SIT, to investigate the deaths.

Last week, authorities declared the village a containment zone and quarantined more than 200 people.

Apart from this, officials found insecticides in a spring where villagers drew water. It has been sealed for investigation. Food items used by the villagers were also tested.

According to doctors, the common factor among all the people who died was the involvement of brain and nerve system.

Rajouri/Jammu:

Authorities have cancelled all leaves of doctors and paramedics in the wake of a medical alert following the deaths of 17 people from Badhaal village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district due to a mysterious illness. The number of people sent to quarantine has risen to 230.

Union minister Dr Jitendra Singh said the initial investigation conducted by the toxicology laboratory in Lucknow concluded that the cause was not any infection, virus or bacteria but a toxin.

Principal of Rajouri Government Medical College (GMC) Hospital, Dr Amarjeet Singh Bhatia, on Friday addressed a press conference in Rajouri and announced that all leaves of doctors and paramedic staff have been cancelled. “The winter vacations have also been cancelled to deal with the medical alert situation after 17 people from three families died under mysterious conditions in the last one-and-a-half months,” he said.

He further said the Jammu and Kashmir government has deputed 10 additional medical students to GMC Rajouri to aid the medical setup amid the ongoing health situation.

The health condition of three persons undergoing treatment at GMC Hospital in Jammu and PGI Chandigarh is being monitored, officials said.

Four people, including three sisters, were shifted to hospitals, with three airlifted to a hospital in Jammu on Wednesday.

More persons, including relatives who had come in contact with the victim families, were sent on Friday to quarantine as a precautionary measure. As a precaution, more individuals, including close relatives of the victims, have been relocated to the Nursing College quarantine centre in Rajouri, increasing the number to 230, the officials said.

Strict security has been put in place at the Nursing College quarantine centre in Rajouri, which has been heavily secured and fenced, they added.

Several people who came into contact with the affected families, from taking children to the hospital to burying them, have also been identified, they said.

The Union minister said a thorough investigation is underway. “The initial investigation conducted by our toxicology laboratory in Lucknow concluded that it was not due to any infection, virus or bacteria but rather a toxin,” he said.

He added that the investigation into the nature of the toxin is going on. “There is a long series of toxins being tested. I believe a solution will be found soon. Additionally, if there was any mischief or malicious activity, that is also being investigated,” he said.

The remote Badhaal village was declared a containment zone on Wednesday, with prohibitory orders imposed on all public and private gatherings in the wake of the deaths, the officials said.

Seventeen people, including 13 children, from the families of Mohammad Fazal, Mohammad Aslam and Mohammad Rafiq in Badhaal village died due to a mysterious illness over the past one-and-a-half months.

Both the central team and police are continuing their separate probes into the deaths, they said.

A central team continued its investigation on Friday into the cause of the deaths which occurred in three families.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was set up by the police after certain neurotoxins were found in the samples of the victims, continued its probe into the criminal angle. They have questioned over 50 people in this case, the officials said.

Dr Bhatia revealed that the common factor among all 17 deaths is the involvement of the brain and damage to the nervous system. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)