AIIMS teal met with patients under observation in GMC Rajouri for history of episode
Visited houses of Mohd Aslam, Mohd Farooq and Fazal Hussain.
Collected samples of blood, nails, hair, food items, water, fresh vegetables from plants etc.
Shyam Sood
Rajouri, February 2: A high-level six-member team from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi led by Director Prof. M. Srinivas on Sunday visited Badhal area of Rajouri district and collected the samples and also interacted with the inhabitants to know history related to mysterious illness that has claimed 17 lives including 13 children.
The team members include Prof. A Shariff ( HoD of Anatomy); Dr Shailendra Kumar (Deptt of Anaesthesiology), Dr Jagdish Prashad Meena ( Deptt of Paediatrics), Dr Nayer Jamshed (Addi. Prof. Deptt of Emergency Medicines), and Dr Javed Quadri (AP Deptt of Anatomy).
Earlier on Saturday, a three-member team from PGIMER Chandigarh visited the village and had collected samples from the houses and adjoining areas of three families who have lost 17 members of their families.
All the central teams that visited Badhal area and collected samples for tests and examination, investigated to know the cause and source of toxicity that claimed lives.
The team from AIIMS accompanied by a team of doctors/technicians from GMC Rajouri and health department Koteranka, SSP Rajouri and Additional DC Koteranka, on Sunday visited houses of Mohd Aslam, Mohd Rafiq and Nizam Din and collected samples of items the deceased and the those under treatment had taken/used.
First time any Central team collected samples of soil at the outlet of used water (kitchen/bathroom/washing area).
Other samples collected from three houses include pieces of fresh vegetables & bananas from plants, Daliya, floor, inhaler used, rice, maize grain, leaf tea, water from container, Rongi Dal etc.
The team also collected blood, nail and hair samples of Mohd Qayoom (brother of Mohd Rafiq who lost wife & three children); Liaqat Ali (neighbour of Mohd Rafiq), and Mohd Bashir (Chowkidar r/o Muku Gala Badhal).
The team also visited the house of Nizam Din at Thakri Mal (father of Fazal Hussain who along with 4 children became victim of this unidentified disease) and collected samples of eatables etc.
On January 12 Mohd Aslam and his four children had a meal (Sweat Rice) at Thakri Mal and later his six children developed health complications, and all died in hospital in Jammu while his maternal uncle/aunt died at GMC Rajouri.
Earlier, after reaching Rajouri, the AIIMS team met with Mohd Aslam, Mohd Farooq and their family members (shifted from Badhal to GMC for their safety) in GMC Rajouri to know the sequence of circumstances of unidentified illness.
The team members also examined patients under treatment in GMC Rajouri and interacted with them about their activities before they fell ill.
Most of the patients from Badhal, who are responding to treatment and are safe, were administered Atropine, an anti-poison drug at GMC Rajouri, Jammu & PGIMER Chandigarh.
The Rajouri administration has declared Badhal as a containment zone and has shifted 384 men, women & children of 87 families to lodgement centers at Nursing College, Boys Model HSS and GMC in Rajouri to mitigate the situation and prevent further casualties.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Central teams of experts from prominent institutions are doing research on the source of toxicity that has claimed 17 lives in Badhal.
