Four people including three sisters have been shifted to hospitals from Badhal village in Rajouri district where 17 people have died of mysterious illness in the last 50 days.
Officials said three sisters, aged between 16 and 22, were shifted to the Government Medical College (GMC), Rajouri from Badhal after their health suddenly deteriorated today.
Another critically ill patient, Aijaz Ahmad 25 was referred to PGI Chandigarh from GMC Rajouri on Tuesday evening, the officials said.
All four are close relatives of the three families that lost their members to mysterious illness, they said.
Meanwhile, the inter-ministerial team from Delhi visited Badhaal in Kotranka sub-division for the third straight day as part of its investigation, the officials said.
The team headed by a director-rank officer in the Ministry of Home Affairs reached Rajouri district headquarters on Sunday evening and was briefed by senior district, health and police officers. It is camping in Rajouri town.
Senior epidemiologist and head of Community Medicines Department, GMC Rajouri, Shuja Qadri said all the investigations so far make it clear that the deaths in the village were not the result of any communicable disease. So, the probe has been narrowed down to the identification of the toxin in food items.
“Based on our epidemiological investigation, as of now, we have reached some probable conclusions, which will be confirmed by lab diagnosis… it is something which is connected with food,” Qadri, who is part of the investigations, said.
The mysterious deaths in Badhaal village took place between December 7 and January 19.
The patients complained of fever, pain, nausea, intense sweating and loss of consciousness before dying within days of admission to hospitals.
A Jammu and Kashmir government spokesperson has said investigations and samples empirically indicated that the incidents were not due to a communicable disease of bacterial or viral origin and that there is no public health angle.Jammu travel guide
Police have set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) after certain neurotoxins were found in the samples of the deceased.
National Conference (NC) leader and local MLA Javaid Iqbal Choudhary said the situation in the village is tough but all necessary measures are in place to deal with it.
“The fresh cases have deepened the mystery and we are hopeful that the investigations by both local and central agencies will reach a conclusion soon,” he said.