‘Mystery’ illness in Sukma village claims 13 lives in a month | India News

RAIPUR: A mysterious illness has claimed 13 lives inside a month in a distant village in insurgency-hit Sukma district of Chhattisgarh. The administration, nevertheless, says there have been 5 latest deaths, the reason for solely two of which is but to be ascertained.
News of the deaths in Dhanikorta took time to succeed in the administration. A well being staff was instantly rushed to the village, round 30km from the district headquarters. All the victims complained of chest ache and chronic coughing earlier than their deaths, mentioned sources.
Nearly each family in this small hamlet near Odisha border is affected, the sources mentioned, including that residents are in panic.
Sukma chief medical and well being officer Dr Kapil Dev Kashyap advised TOI that there have been 5 deaths “in recent past”. “Three died in the district hospital due to age-related ailments and the causes of the other two are being ascertained. The main reason, our health teams have found, is the change in weather, coinciding with mahua harvest time, when villagers go into the forests and collect mahua the whole day. This is leading to dehydration and they are falling sick,” he mentioned. Kashyap mentioned villagers are given ORS as they’re adamant on going to forest to collect mahua.