‘No fear of outbreak in Badhaal’
Rajouri, Jan 22: Dr Shuja Qadri, Senior Epidemiologist and Head of Department, Community Medicine at Government Medical College (GMC) Rajouri, has ruled out the possibility of an outbreak or spread of the mysterious illness in Badhaal village, Rajouri, where 17 people have lost their lives in the past one and a half months.
The issue has sparked a national-level health concern, prompting health experts from reputed institutes and a high-level inter-ministerial team to assist in the ongoing probe.
The team has been camping in Rajouri for the past four days.
According to Dr Qadri, health investigation agencies have identified potential links to food habits and the food chain of affected families.
“Preliminary investigations suggest that some form of toxicity in the food chain may be the cause of the mysterious deaths and we have no substantial evidence to believe it as an outbreak or illness that is communicable in nature,” he said.
Dr Qadri expressed optimism that health experts were expecting a breakthrough in their investigation, which would provide much-needed answers to the affected families and the community at large.
He, however, said that people should remain extra cautious in the affected area especially related to their food habits.