Jammu and Kashmir health officials screen 10,000 houses in Rajouri amid outbreak of 'mystery' disease

RAJOURI: The healthcare authorities in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district have intensified their efforts, with medical teams conducting comprehensive health screenings of local inhabitants.
An undiagnosed illness has resulted in 17 fatalities and affected 38 individuals since December 2024. Despite these concerning numbers, healthcare officials maintain that declaring a public health emergency is not warranted at present.
Dr M L Raina, CMO Rajouri, said, "We have repeatedly screened the 1600-1700 houses. We have screened out 9000-10000 houses from door to door. I have on-record data, day-wise data and date-wise data. We have day-wise data and date-wise data. On the very next day of the 'unidentified' disease outbreak, we deployed our teams. In which we doing active surveillance and passive surveillance. There are our medical mobile units. There is a team of doctors from the National Health Organization. Along with that, we have a lab system too."
Dr M L Raina shared details about the current monitoring and health initiatives across the district. He confirmed the establishment of teams for all clusters, noting that both active and passive monitoring activities have been carried out throughout the previous two months.
"We have set up teams for the entire district and workers at the field level. We have 8 different teams for 8 clusters. So, for the last two months, we have been working on active and passive surveillance and base camps," he said.
Dr M L Raina indicated that based on the laboratory findings, the situation does not warrant declaring a 'public health emergency.'
"We have checked the system so that there are no problems. You can see that everything has been cleared from our side. The viral test results are still positive. None of them have come. All are negative. Even if we go to the vectorology side, it is negative. If we go to the viral side, it is negative. There is no public health emergency," he said.
A resident Surjeet Singh Thakur said, "The health team here worked well from day one. Our police department is working with them to complete the investigation. The investigation is ongoing and we are not sure why these casualties occurred. We have found out that this was not a bacterial disease or a virus. The samples of food, water, and all the daily needs are being collected. We have not found out that this is not a disease, it has been cleared....it is poison or something,"
"The department is working well. I have told you earlier that the entire police administration, civil administration and medical team are present here. I think they have seen some small clues somewhere. But it will not be right to speak in front of you. This is part of the investigation. When this investigation is done properly, then you will get to know," he further added.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah issued directives on Saturday to establish an inter-ministerial committee, headed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), to examine the reasons behind the unexplained fatalities in three separate incidents that occurred during the previous six weeks.
The Army has been called in to assist the local population by distributing vital necessities, such as food, water, and temporary accommodation.
(With inputs from agency)