Unidentified illness in southern India puts hundreds in the hospital

(Image credit: AP Photo)

last updated 8 December 2020

Officials in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh are trying to figure out what is causing a mysterious illness that has hospitalized at least 450 people and left one dead.

The illness was first detected in the ancient city of Eluru on Saturday evening, The Associated Press reports. Doctors said patients have reported feeling nauseous and anxious, with some losing consciousness and others foaming at the mouth. On Sunday evening, a 45-year-old man who had been hospitalized with nausea and symptoms similar to epilepsy died of a heart attack, The Guardian reports.

Water samples taken from the city do not show any signs of contamination, health officials said. The patients are from different age groups, and have tested negative for COVID-19 and other viral diseases like dengue and chikungunya. On Monday, India's central government sent a team of experts to Eluru to investigate the illness. Andhra Pradesh has been hit hard by the coronavirus, with more than 800,000 cases recorded, and the virus is straining the state's health care system.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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