Mysterious illness kills one, more than 300 sick in Andhra's Eluru

At least 345 people have complained of epilepsy, seizures, giddiness, vomiting and oozing of froth from the mouth in the last 48 hours in Eluru town in Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari district.

Most of the patients were in the age group of 20-40 years, there were at least 45 children below 12 years of age. One of them died on Sunday.

“So far, 180 patients were discharged after being treated for symptoms,” the hospital authorities said.

A team of AIIMS doctors will be visiting Eluru to find out the cause behind the unidentified illness. Some blood samples have been sent to Indian Institute of Chemical Technology in Hyderabad for examination, hospital authorities said. CT scans of the patients’ brain were performed and cerebral spinal fluid tests also turned out to be normal. E-coli results were also awaited, according to reports.

It was initially suspected that water contamination could have been the cause of the outbreak but sample tests ruled that out. BJP's lawmaker GVL Narasimha Rao said, after talking to experts at the AIIMS, New Delhi, that poisonous organochlorine substances could be the most likely cause of the disease.