Probe yet to ascertain cause, says Health Minister on Rajouri deaths

Jammu and Kashmir Health Minister Sakeena Masood Itoo on Sunday said a probe into the recent mysterious deaths of seven persons at a remote village in Rajouri district is yet to reach any conclusion.

Itoo, accompanied by Minister for Jal Shakti, Forest and Tribal Affairs Javed Ahmed Rana, senior government officials and local MLA Javed Ahmad Choudhary, visited the affected village under Kotranka Tehsil to review the situation on Sunday.

Seven persons—a man and his four children, and two siblings of another couple—died at Badhaal village in two separate incidents on December 8 and 12, with officials initially suspecting food poisoning as the cause of their mysterious deaths.

Expressing grief over the loss of lives, Itoo said 28 villagers got affected but all of them, including those undergoing treatment at hospitals Jammu and Rajouri, were stable.

Itoo emphasised the urgency of strengthening health systems and enforcing social distancing, expediting results from forensic laboratories, directing the Food & Supplies Department to collect and test additional samples and Animal Husbandry Department to collect and test milk samples. In addition, she directed to ensure a team of doctors remains stationed in Kotranka besides establishing an MRI facility at Kotranka for improved diagnostic capabilities.

Itoo said the health department has mobilised and rushed various teams to the village to investigate the deaths.

The deputy commissioner is coordinating with the teams on the ground, and so far the situation is under control, she said, adding, “We have not reached any conclusion so far, as the majority of the (laboratory) reports are still pending. Forensic report takes more than 48 hours, while there are some reports, as the PGI Chandigarh team said, which will take 20 days,” the minister said.

Principal of Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu, Ashutosh Gupta, on Saturday said preliminary investigations pointed towards a viral infection, but more work needs to be done to reach any conclusion. “More time is required to finalise whether the deaths were caused by a virus outbreak or some toxins,” he said.

Gupta said a team of experts from the National Institute of Virology, Pune, PGI Chandigarh, and National Centre 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, Itoo said, as she lauded the role of the health department for conducting medical check-ups in every household in the village.

The health department has stocked adequate medicines and also made available an ambulance in the village so that people do not face any problem, she said, assuring people that the government led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah stands with them.

Javed Rana stressed the importance of conducting water quality testing in adjacent areas by the water quality monitoring team. In addition, he announced two mobile medical units (MMU’s) for Rajouri and Poonch districts, with each costing around Rs 1 crore from Tribal Affairs department.