Woman who lost husband, 5 grandkids to ‘mystery illness’ succumbs in Rajouri hospital; 16th death since December

She had previously lost her husband and five grandchildren to the ‘mystery illness’. She is survived by a son, daughter-in-law and a granddaughter.

The first death in the village to be attributed to the illness was reported on December 7. This came after seven members of a family fell ill, suffering from fever and vomiting, after attending a function in the village. On December 12, nine members of a family were hospitalised with the same illness. A month later, six children were hospitalised.

Experts from three of the country’s top medical institutions – the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh; National Institute of Vitology, Pune; and the National Centre for Disease Control – had visited the village and conducted microbiological studies on some water and food samples collected there earlier.

Doctors at the hospitals in Rajouri and Jammu had also collected blood and other samples of those hospitalised from the village and sent them to labs in different parts of the country.

Officials said the test reports ruled out any viral, bacterial or microbiological infections. However, experts said “certain neurotoxins” appear to have been found in the samples of those who have died so far.