The death toll in Budhal, Rajouri, climbed to 16 on Friday after a 60-year-old woman succumbed to an, till now, medically, unexplained illness. The first death was reported on 7th December after a family of seven fell ill following attendance at a function, with the illness predominantly affecting children and resulting in five fatalities. On December 12, 2024, a family of nine was affected, leading to three deaths. The third incident occurred on January 12, 2025, involving a family of ten who fell ill after consuming another community meal, with six children requiring hospitalization.
It has been more than a month now and the authorities are still clueless about the whole issue. The officials say that investigations and sample analysis empirically indicate that the incidents are not due to a communicable disease of bacterial or viral origin and that there is no public health angle. The tests were conducted at National Institute of Virology (Pune), the National Centre for Disease Control (New Delhi), the National Institute of Toxicology and Research (Lucknow), the Defence Research and Development Establishment (Gwalior), the Microbiology Department of PGIMER (Chandigarh), and the ICMR-Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory, GMC Jammu.
Clinical reports, lab investigations, and environmental samples suggest the incidents are not linked to a communicable disease while the toxicological analysis conducted by CSIR-IITR has detected toxins in multiple biological specimens. A day after test reports found neurotoxins in some samples, the government formed a 11-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) SIT, headed by Superintendent of Police (Operations) Budhal, to investigate the causes behind mysterious deaths. However, people are in panic and they are angry as they are keen to know the reasons.
To ensure peoples’ safety is the prime duty of every government. Jammu and Kashmir government needs to speed up the investigation into these unexplained deaths. Health experts, police and civil administration need to be on the same page. The probe needs coordinated efforts with a sense of urgency. The government should issue a daily bulletin regarding the progress in the probe and share with the public every minute detail. People have been losing faith in the administration. It is 42 days since the mysterious deaths struck Budhal village and the only thing people have been told is that investigations and sample analysis empirically indicate that the incidents are not due to a communicable disease of bacterial or viral origin and that there is no public health angle. 16 deaths and no explanation – people are running out of patience. Let the entire administration focus on the investigation involving experts from all concerned fields. The Administration has to be transparent and share all the details with the public to avoid rumour mongering and to earn peoples’ trust.