India: Unknown disease leaves 1 dead, scores hospitalized

At least one person has died and over 200 others were hospitalized in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh with an unidentified illness, local health authorities said on Monday. 

The first cases were noted on Saturday evening in the ancient city of Eluru and since then, patients have experienced symptoms ranging from nausea and anxiety to loss of consciousness, local doctors reported. 

The man who died was among those who had to be hospitalized for the illness. He was 45 years old and experienced symptoms similar to epilepsy and nausea, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. 

State health spokesman Manikyala Rao told dpa that the man's death could not be linked directly to the illness, suggesting he had died of a heart attack. 

"All patients tested negative for COVID-19. Air pollution, water or food contamination is also ruled out after tests were carried out. It is some mystery illness and more lab tests are being carried out to find out what it is," Rao said.

Specialists have been dispatched to Eluru to investigate the causes of the illness and to treat victims, while a house-to-house survey is now under way to identify any additional potential patients. 

Authorities were on the scene, as Andhra Pradesh state chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy visited a government hospital and met with ill patients.  

The opposition Telugu Desam Party said that water contamination was the cause of the illness and blamed the current government for negligence. Party leader N. Chandrababu Naidu also demanded an impartial investigation and called on authorities to declare the incident in Eluru a public health emergency. 

jcg/msh (dpa, AFP)