Srinagar, Jan 17 (KNO): As the death toll mounted to 16 with one more woman passing away due to mysterious illness at Budhal village in Rajouri district, Health Minister, Sakina Masood Itoo on Friday declared that these deaths are not taking place due to any virus or any influenza.
Talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) exclusively, the Health Minister said, “Five deaths occurring initially had sent alarm bells ringing. It seemed that these deaths could have taken place due to some virus or influenza.”
“We were apprehending that it could be a virus like Covid but it's nothing like it. All tests have come negative,” she added.
The Minister said that the Health Department was monitoring the situation closely from the very first day. “Samples were collected from the area and were sent for testing in five labs including Lucknow, Pune, Delhi, Chandigarh and GMC Jammu, but all of them tested negative,” Itoo said, adding, “The teams of Health Department carried out the extensive survey and took samples of the people who were ill but no virus or influenza was found. All these tested negative in different laboratories.”
The Health Minister said that at present the Home Department is investigating the reasons behind the mysterious deaths in the hamlet. “There is no health angle as all the issues have been cleared,” she said. “Probe is on and there is no need to panic. It’s not a health issue.”
*60-YEAR WOMAN DIES, TOLL 16*
Meanwhile, another 60-year woman, Jatti Begum wife of Mohammad Yousuf of Budhal village died at GMC Rajouri today, taking the death count to 16, including 12 children in the past over 45 days, officials said.
The woman, according to the officials, had been brought to GMC Rajouri on Thursday.
Her husband had died due to the same mysterious illness on Monday. Yousuf and his wife were relatives of Mohammad Aslam, who lost 5 children due to this mysterious illness.
Pertinently, over a dozen including minors have died due to unknown reasons while the government in an official statement had stated that clinical reports, lab investigations, and environmental samples indicate that the incidents are not due to a communicable disease while the toxicological analysis conducted by CSIR-IITR has detected toxins in multiple biological specimens.
The Home Department has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to reach the root cause of the matter—(KNO)