Doctor’s Struggle To Identify Strange New Illness As Hundreds Fall Ill

A mysterious illness has killed at least one person and hospitalized hundreds in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

The unidentified illness was detected over the weekend in Eluru, an ancient city in India known for its hand-woven products. It’s been reported that patients have experienced symptoms ranging from extreme nausea and anxiety to loss of consciousness.

A 45-year-old man experiencing symptoms similar to epilepsy and nausea had to be hospitalized and died soon after.

Doctors are working to determine the cause of the illness. So far, water samples tested from the areas impacted have shown no signs of contamination and the chief minister’s office said there have been cases of the sickness in people not linked to the municipal water supply.

The patients are of different ages and none have tested positive for COVID-19 or other viral diseases such as dengue chikungunya, or herpes.

On Monday an expert team sent by the federal government went into the city to investigate the sudden illness.

State chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy paid a visit to a government hospital and met with patients who were ill and opposition leader N. Chandrababu Naidu is demanding an “impartial, full-fledged inquiry into the incident.”

The state of Andhra Pradesh is among the worst affected by COVID-19 reporting over 800,000 documented cases. The health system in this area, like much of India, has been hit hard by the virus.