Rajouri tragedy: One more affected by ‘mysterious’ illness, airlifted to Chandigarh

Srinagar, Jan 21: Amid growing concern over a mysterious illness that has claimed 17 lives in Badhal village, Rajouri, another youth from the village has been affected by the same unexplained disease.
Sources told Rising Kashmir that Aijaz Ahmad, a relative of Mohammad Aslam—who lost six children to the disease—had been attending to his uncle’s family members, who had previously succumbed to the illness.
Initially, Aijaz did not show the typical symptoms such as high fever, body pain, vomiting, and loss of consciousness, which were seen in earlier cases. However, his condition quickly worsened after he began experiencing dizziness and severe abdominal pain.
Dr. A. S. Bhatia, Principal of GMC Rajouri, told Rising Kashmir that initial CT scan results were normal, and no abnormalities were detected. Despite this, Aijaz’s condition continued to deteriorate, leading the medical team to intubate him before airlifting him to PGI Chandigarh for advanced treatment.
“We conducted a CT scan, and it was normal. There were no signs of neurotoxins. However, his condition worsened, and we had to intubate him before transferring him for further treatment,” Dr. Bhatia said.
Chief Medical Officer Rajouri, Dr. Manohar Lal said that Aijaz initially complained of abdominal pain and vomiting. He passed approximately 1.5 liters of urine before experiencing dizziness and losing consciousness.
Dr Lal also confirmed that Aijaz had attended to the deceased family members in Jammu.
He also said that over 10,000 Persons across 1,600 households have been screened, with people being checked multiple times to monitor for symptoms.
He said that the comprehensive containment strategy, including isolating potential cases and closely monitoring residents is top priority.
Dr. Lal said that the inter-ministerial team, which had visited the area, has concluded its investigation and returned. However, the findings are yet to be disclosed.
On December 05 last year, Badhal village in Rajouri witnessed a series of unexplained deaths, primarily affecting children. So far 13 Children among seventeen from three interconnected families succumbed to a mysterious illness, presenting symptoms such as high fever, body pain, vomiting, and loss of consciousness.
Subsequent findings revealed the presence of pesticide residues in a local water spring, known as a “baoli,” which was suspected to be the source of contamination leading to the deaths which shifted the focus from a viral or bacterial outbreak to possible poisoning due to contaminated water. However exact cause of death is yet to be ascertained.