Mysterious India disease: traces of heavy metals found while hundreds suffer seizures, nausea, pain

Traces of heavy metals such as lead and nickel have been found in samples taken from 550 people affected by a mysterious disease in a southern Indian city where some victims have collapsed on the street, authorities said.

The government has brought medical experts to Eluru in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to investigate the disease, which first appeared on Saturday.

A man died after showing symptoms of seizures, nausea, and chronic pain.

India already has the coronavirus with the second highest number of cases in the world, and it is expected to soon surpass 10 million. The disease has added to the nerves of the region.

Hospital officials said 555 people had been treated since Saturday, including about 80 on Tuesday.

Most have recovered quickly, but the death of a 45-year-old man over the weekend has added to the panic.

A hospital has reserved 100 beds for the victims, but most have been sent home again.

Samples taken from 10 people showed high levels of lead and nickel in the blood, said the head of Eluru Government Hospital, AV Mohan.

State authorities have ordered an investigation into the origin of the metals and how they spread.

However, Dr. Mohan added that the sample was too small to be sure that lead and nickel had caused the disease to spread through the city of 200,000 people.

There are no large chemical factories in the region and more extensive tests have been carried out on the supply of water and even milk that is drunk in the city.

Experts from the national medical institutes were also collecting edible oil, rice and urine samples for analysis.

District officials have already pointed to a possible role for chemical additives in pesticides.

Others have highlighted a problem with garbage and wild boar.

“Some people say it is mass hysteria, but it is not,” said AS Ram, a senior doctor at the government hospital.

“Most patients come in with minor head injuries or a black eye because they suddenly collapsed from the seizure,” Ram said.

“But in an hour or two, most of them are fine.”

Police officer Kiran Kumar, who collapsed while on duty Monday, said he was “scared” after being semi-conscious for more than two hours.

“My colleagues told me, I yelled something and collapsed. I injured my right shoulder from falling on the road.”

Symptoms for those with the mysterious illness included “three to five minute epilepsy, forgetfulness, anxiety, vomiting, headache and back pain.”