Asia-Pacific Daily Report

In India's Kandhamal district in eastern Orissa state, an unknown disease claimed two more lives on September 23, bringing the total death toll to 10, the Kalinga Times reported. The two latest victims lost their lives at the MKCG Hospital in Berhampur city. The mystery illness made its presence known after two people died on September 19, and was followed by six more deaths the next day, bringing the death toll to eight, Medindia.com reported. A spurt in fatalities prompted the MKCG Medical College from Berhampur to deploy a team of four doctors to study the cause of the deaths. However, according to the Kalinga Times, authorities were not able to conduct the necessary examination to determine the cause of the disease. The state government told the Kalinga times they projected more deaths, as 10 more people were admitted to different hospitals with similar symptoms. Additionally, all casualties had occurred in Gudrigaon village, although some people from a neighboring village appeared to have been sick with similar symptoms. According to Medindia.com, health officials initially thought the sickness was being caused by cerebral malaria, but tests conducted by the MKCG Medical College showed that the deaths could also have been caused by food poisoning. The team conducting tests have yet to officially submit its report, and the disease still remains a mystery. It was also reported by the Kalinga Times that others suspected that the 10 deaths may have been due to consumption of poisonous mushrooms. Experts from the Regional Medical and Research Center and other medical institutions are awaiting test results from the team, which could cause more experts to travel to the area to study the exact cause of the sickness, Medindia said. Jatin Patnaik, the chief district medical officer in Kandhamal told Medindia.com that the situation was under control and that no new cases had been reported as of September 24. According to ProMed mail, Orissa state is not a high-risk area for malaria and the report published by the Kalinga Times does not mention fever as part of the symptoms, which, if true, eliminates malaria with a high probability.

Source:

· http://www.kalingatimes.com/odisha_news/news2009/20090923_Deaths_due_to_unknown_...

· http://www.medindia.net/news/Mystery-Illness-in-Kandhamal-Kills-2-More-58502-1.h...

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