Eluru illness: CCMB rules out presence of virus; high presence of pesticides in water main reason says AIMS

Hyderabad: Researchers at the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has ruled out the presence of virus or parasite in the Eluru Incident. This leaves the administration to deeply probe the role of other contamination. "The source has not been revealed yet, however it comes as one-time incident' CCMB said.While the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) has concluded that residues of pesticides could be the reason for the outbreak .

The CCMB submitted its report to the Andhra Pradesh government concluding that there is no presence of virus or parasite in the samples tested. Speaking to NewsMeter, a senior scientist who requested to remain anonymous said, "CCMB collected close to 40 samples which include blood, feces and vomit of the patients. Out of the 40 samples, reports of 30 have concluded no involvement of virus. In what is called the DNA Sequencing, no isolated DNA has matched with any pathogen in the world".

The scientist further added, "The Eluru illness is a resulted of one-time exposure to something very local. It could be due to the entry of heavy metals like lead and Nickle via water. Also source is still undetectable as the investigating agencies have lost out on the time. It could due to mass consumption of horizontally spread metal diluted in water".

Meanwhile in a review meeting held on 16th December, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the officials to focus on maintenance of dumping yards and instructed them to conduct all possible tests across West Godavari district.

He further instructed to test drinking water samples from all sources in all the districts. The samples should be collected systematically and should be analysed with experts, he said.

The Chief Minister said AIIMS and IICT should conduct a deep study on the long term on the causes of the outbreak in Eluru and asked the Chief Secretary to prepare an action plan for the same.

Findings of the Investigating agencies:

All India Institute of Medical Sciences :It reported that lead was detected in the blood of the patients and nickle was found in all the milk samples. They said Orgonochlorine was the reason for illness in the patients and pesticides could be the reason for the presence of Orgonochlorine and would have entered the human body in the process of food cycle.

Reports revealed lead was found in blood samples of relatives of patients and long term study is needed on it. Exact reason for the illness would be known after analysing sample of food, drinking water and vegetables for few months, experts said.

Indian Institute of Chemical Technology: Experts said that 21 samples of water were collected along with blood samples of people and animals. No traces of heavy metals like lead, nickle and arsenic were found in water samples and also pesticides residues were also not found in water samples.

Endosulfan and DDD were traced in blood samples. Lead was found in some blood samples and no traces of orgonophosphates were found, they said.

National Environmental Engineering Research Institute- Hyderabad: has conducted tests on air pollution in Eluru and said the pollution of air was in permissible limits.They have tested underground water and surface water and found all metals are in permissible limits except mercury. No traces of orgonochlorine, orgonophosphates or lead were found in water. Reports said the concentration of mercury is high in underground water compared to surface waters and it could be due to the solid waste burning.

Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad said, no bacteria or virus was found in the samples. National Institute of Virology, Pune reported that no evidence was found to prove viral infection.