A remote village in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, 30km from the district headquarters, is in panic after being hit by a mysterious disease that has claimed 13 lives in a month. Nearly every household in this small village is affected.
Sukma chief medical and health officer Dr Kapil Dev Kashyap was quoted by TOI that there have been five deaths (not 13) “in recent past”, even as the news of the deaths took time to reach the officials. The state government has rushed a health team to the village.
The victims complained of chest pain and acute coughing that led to deterioration in their health conditions.
“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,” Kashyap said.
He said villagers are given ORS as they are adamant on going to forest to gather mahua.
