Even as the number of cases under treatment for epidemic dropsy in various hospitals in Shivpuri, Sheopur and Gwalior touches 500, none of the 75 mustard oil samples seized over the past week has tested positive for contamination with oil from the poisonous weed argemone mexicana. The genesis of this controversy seems to lie in the failure to react sufficiently to initial complaints that surfaced in Sheopur. The confusion has been further compounded by the fact that most patients were not referred to any government institution till almost two to three weeks after the first symptoms were detected. In Sheopur, the first oil mill was closed on June 18 after complaints by several residents that they had fallen ill due to consumption of loose mustard oil produced there. Shitij Dixit, a local journalist, was one of those afflicted. ‘‘My ankles were swollen and I first thought it was because of all the walking I do, but soon my wife and daughter had the same symptoms. My doctor was unsure and suggested there was some problem with my kidneys.since the whole family couldn’t have a kidney problem, he suggested there may be a problem with the oil we consumed. Then I found that there were more than 15 people in my mohalla and nearby areas with the same symptoms. ‘‘On June 18, the commissioner visited the town and we took up the matter with him. He directed that the mill be sealed. But nothing more happened till the reports from Shivpuri appeared almost a week later,’’ he says. In Shivpuri, the matter came to light on June 25 when 18 members of the Warsi family were referred to the Civil Hospital for treatment. The Shivpuri administration was quick to react. A team of doctors from Gwalior reached there the same day, examined the patients and took some oil samples. The Collector banned the sale of loose oil and several shops and oil mills were sealed. It was only then that the administration in Sheopur followed suit. The team from Gwalior subsequently reported that dropsy had been confirmed. Gwalior Medical College Dean Dr G.N. Pradhan says: ‘‘We are treating patients for dropsy. The samples of oil we took tested positive for contamination on the nitric acid test. And the one thing that is common to all the patients is that they have consumed loose mustard oil.’’ Initially, the Health minister echoed his claim but the government was quick to backtrack in a state where the four districts of Shivpuri, Sheopur, Morena and Bhind, with mustard alone, account for more than a third of MP’s oilseed production. State Food and Drug Controller Selina Singh says she only came to know of the matter on June 28 through newspaper reports and immediately contacted the Collectors. ‘‘So far 75 samples have been tested and found okay. The nitric acid test is not approved by the Government of India and the Thin Layer Chromatography test is prescribed. Doctors have no business testing food samples. Large quantities of mustard oil are manufactured in MP and sent elsewhere and if there was contamination we would have got reports from elsewhere.’’ A Central team, comprising two doctors from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases and one from Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, have already visited the affected areas and their report should set matters to rest. Meanwhile, patients continue to come in. In Shivpuri, 273 patients have undergone treatment for dropsy, and over the past three days, more than 20 new cases have come in.
