Hunt on for lead source that may have caused Andhra Pradesh mystery illness

HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh government will begin an operation to look for possible sources of contamination that could have led to the mystery disease in Eluru town of the state that has left nearly 600 people ill and one dead. AP health authorities said lead and pesticides, along with other probable sources, are being looked into as possible cause of the illness.

AP health commissioner K Bhaskar said vegetables, fruits, soil and all other probable sources are being examined. Bhaskar said the mass convulsions and the subsequent decrease of lead content in the blood of patients after being admitted indicate it’s a case of acute exposure and not chronic exposure.

“This means that at this point in time, it seems like a one-time spurt and the impact is limited to Eluru,” he added. Cases have been reported from Eluru rural mandal and Denduluru mandal also, where the source of water supply is not through municipal corporation, he said.

On Wednesday, AIIMS-Delhi and AIIMS-Mangalagiri teams led by medical superintendent Dr Rakesh Kakkar visited Eluru again and collected fresh samples. Most of the cases of the mystery illness reported were in and around the Powerpet area of Eluru. Dr S Chandrashekar from the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology said water samples tested so far have not yielded heavy metals.

“Some more water samples shall be analysed. We just started testing blood samples. We haven’t concluded anything so far on it. The old water supply pipes with lead may be one of the multiple possibilities,” he added.

Earlier, authorities at the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-Delhi found traces of lead and nickel in 25 of the 45 blood samples of Eluru mystery ailment victims.

Dr A Shariff of the clinical ecotoxicology department told TOI that the percentage of lead in the blood samples vary from 15 micrograms to 100 grams per decilitre. “Lead gets deposited in bones as time lapses and does not show up even in urine. Tests conducted on cerebrospinal fluid did not find any inflammation. Other test results are awaited. We can conclude that lead is the cause if nothing is found in other tests,” said Dr Shariff.

Investigators will look for dumpsites of batteries which are possible sources of lead near water sources.