Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 16: Minister for Health and Medical Education Sakina Itoo today said that deaths in Badhal village of Rajouri have not caused due to any communicable disease.
She said that Govt has been closely monitoring the situation in Badhal area of Rajouri, where an `unexplained illness’ has claimed 15 lives. She said.
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Investigations and samples empirically indicate that the incidents are not due to a communicable disease of bacterial or viral origin and that there is no public health angle.
The Minister said all samples have tested negative for any viral or bacteriological etiology. The tests were conducted on different samples in some of the most reputed labs of the country. These include National Institute of Virology Pune, National Centre for disease control New Delhi, National Institute of Toxicology and Research Lucknow, Defence Research Development Establishment Gwalior, the Microbiology Department of PGIMER Chandigarh besides the ICMR-Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory, GMC Jammu.
The incident came into notice on December 7, 2024, when a family of seven got ill after a community meal, resulting in five fatalities. On December 12, 2024, a family of nine got affected, claiming three lives. The third incident occurred on January 12, 2025, involving a family of ten who fell ill after consuming another community meal, with six children requiring hospitalization.
Responding promptly, the Govt took a number of steps to find root cause of the unusual illness.
The Minister for Health and Medical Education, Sakina Itoo had also visited the spot along with other cabinet colleagues, besides chairing several meetings with the Health and Medical Education Department, District Administration, and other related departments to find the cause of the illness and provide necessary healthcare facilities to the affected.
Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, also chaired a series of meetings with health authorities, administration, technical experts from across the country, and police to ensure thorough fact-finding and provide the best healthcare facilities to the affected, she added.
Secretary Department of Health Research, MOHFW and DG ICMR Govt of India Dr. Rajeev Bahl held a video conference to discuss strategies and steps to rule out any epidemic.
Sakina said the Government took several steps immediately after the first incident on December 7, including deputing a medical team along with the food safety department to collect food and water samples, organizing medical camps, establishing mobile medical units, door-to-door screening, and deploying rapid action teams.
Clinical reports, lab investigations, and environmental samples indicate that the incidents are not due to a communicable disease.
The toxicological analysis conducted by CSIR-IITR has detected toxins in multiple biological specimens.
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