Srinagar: The number of deaths from an unknown illness in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district has risen to nine, with a woman breathing her last today due to the mysterious disease, prompting authorities to order a probe to ascertain the cause of her death.
Reports said the woman, a resident of Badhaal village, died after sudden medical complications with initial symptoms not resembling with earlier deaths.
They said the district administration has ordered an immediate probe to ascertain the cause of her death.
The woman had earlier lost her two sons and a daughter to the ‘mystery’ illness.
A Biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) mobile laboratory has been dispatched to Rajouri to expedite testing and identify the illness, officials said.
Recently, a team of epidemiologists and other experts visited the area where a team of 14 doctors has already been camping there since Thursday evening.
Badhaal is a remote village falling under Khawas tehsil of Kotranka subdivision of Rajouri district where these incidents happened in last few days in which a nine people died.
A health alert was issued by the Health Department soon after the twin incidents with special teams constituted to react to the situation as per the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).