Jammu and Kashmir Health Minister Sakina Masood said the investigation into the recent mysterious deaths of seven people in a remote village of Rajouri district on Sunday, December 15, 2024, is yet to reach any conclusion.
Masood, along with Jal Shakti, Forest and Tribal Affairs Minister Javed Ahmed Rana, along with senior government officials and local MLA Javed Ahmed Chaudhary, visited the affected village under Kotranka tehsil on Sunday to review the situation.
In two separate incidents on December 8 and 12, seven people – a man and his four children and two siblings of another couple – died in Badhal village, with authorities initially suspecting food poisoning as the cause of their mysterious deaths.
Expressing grief over the loss of life, Masud said that 28 villages were affected, but the condition of all those undergoing treatment at hospitals in Jammu and Rajouri was stable.
Ashutosh Gupta, Principal, Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu, said on Saturday that preliminary investigations point to a viral infection, but more work is needed to reach any conclusion. “More time is needed to determine whether the death was due to the outbreak of the virus or some toxic substance,” he said.
Masud said that the health department is mobilizing various teams in the village to investigate the death.
The deputy commissioner is coordinating with the team on the ground and the situation is under control so far, she said, adding, “We have not come to any conclusion as most of the (laboratory) reports are pending.” The report takes more than 48 hours, while there are some reports, like the PGI Chandigarh team said, which will take 20 days,” the minister said.
However, she said that the report of the water test in the village has come back negative and the report of some food samples is yet to come.
Gupta said that a team of experts from National Institute of Virology, Pune, PGI Chandigarh and National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), Delhi have arrived here to assist in the investigation. A team of experts from AIIMS Delhi is also joining the probe, Masood said, as she appreciated the health department’s role in conducting health checks at every household in the village.
The health department has stocked enough medicines and has also provided an ambulance in the village so that the people do not face any problem, she assured the people that the government under the leadership of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is with them.
He directed the purchase of MRI facilities for health centers in the villages and assured the people to upgrade them from community health centers to public health centers.
On the shortage of doctors, the minister said it was a problem for the entire Jammu and Kashmir. “There are many vacancies of doctors and paramedics and the government is taking steps to fill those vacancies to give relief to the people,” she said.
published – Dec 16, 2024 at 04:13 pm IST