Chennai: Days after a mystery disease in Eluru, left health officials and the government baffled, initial reports are indicative of the presence of organochlorine substances in the infection.
According to sources, the preliminary analysis of various test reports, has almost established the same, even as a team of experts from the WHO and the Health Ministry, are expected to arrive in Eluru today.
Multiple teams of experts from premier scientific institutions of the country are on to the job to determine the exact cause of the disease, that has left one dead and over 450 infected.
Organochlorine pesticides are chlorinated hydrocarbons used in agriculture and mosquito control. The compounds include DDT, that is widely used in anti-mosquito fogging.
Officials from the Medical and Health Department said, “We are waiting for the lab report for final confirmation, if organochlorine is indeed the cause”.
BJP MP G V L Narasimha Rao, was the first to suspect that poisonous organochlorine substances could be the most likely cause of the mysterious disease. With water contamination ruled out as the cause of the disease spread, and also other tests turning out normal, the medical teams are now focusing on other chemical agents that could have led to the outbreak.
Teams of experts from the National Institute of Nutrition and Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad reached Eluru on Monday and collected various samples for analysis, while all the patients tested Covid negative.
Water and milk samples were also sent to the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad for analysis of heavy metal content, sources in the Medical and Health Department said.