Just last month , hundreds of peoplefell grim with a deep illnessin the metropolis of Eluru in India . The cause of the illness ab initio stay on unknown , leading to a vast amount of confusion and vexation , but pesticides and heavy metal have since been place to as the prime suspect .
Just over 600 people fell acutely gruesome in early December 2020 in the southerly Amerindic state of Andhra Pradesh , displaying a all-encompassing range of symptom from anxiety and gaining control to burning eyes and vomiting . Two people , both in their 50s , give-up the ghost after falling sickwith these symptoms . fortuitously , there have been no new reported cases since December .
“ I can not recall what on the nose happened to me on that day . I inflame up and had breakfast at 8 am as usual . After washing my hands , I felt dizzy and sat on the bed and all of a sudden suffered a seizure , ” one person toldthe New Indian Expressin December .
Doctors were stumped , but expert from an array of general and Indian scientific institutions quickly started to collect samples from the patient and the local surround in a pursuance to identify the cause of the illnesses .
The state Health Ministersaidall of the patient role tested negative for COVID-19 , which had become a concern since Andhra Pradesh was one of the worst - affect states in India with at least 885,985 account COVID-19 cases , according to theJohns Hopkins COVID dashboardas of 26 March 2025 . Blood samples also did not show any evidence of a viral infection and bacterial infection were also ruled out .
Many of the other findings were mixed and not so straightforward . As report bythe Hindunewspaper , scientists at the All India Institute Of Medical Science ( AIIMS ) reported that the affected role ’ rip samples contained vestige of arduous metallic element , such as atomic number 82 and Ni , while local milk samples also contained Ni . On the other deal , the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology did not find distressful levels of grave metal in the local water . They did , however , discover that blood sample contained jumper lead and DDT ( DDT ) . While DDT has been banned for agricultural use worldwide , it ’s stillused to check malariain some role of the world .
These findings led the government of Andhra Pradesh toconcludeon December 16 that pesticides leaching into the water supply was the " main reason " for the unwellness . However , it ’s not totally understand why 100 of people suddenly become so shrewdly sick in December .
Some have notedthat parts of Andhra Pradesh have been battered by intensive agriculture and industry for several decades now , and it ’s been mention that a variety of agrochemicals and pesticide have apply extensively in the upland region . It ’s been speculated that the sudden rush of illness seen in December was a knock - on core on the laborious rainfall and flood lamp seen in previous month , which could have washed the chemical substance into local water systems .
Some of the scientific and aesculapian institutes working on the investigation , let in the World Health Organisation , are calling for an expert control panel to look into how exactly these pesticide managed to make their direction into human bodies .
