Mystery Illness in India, Hundreds Sick (Not a Virus This Time)
Weird stories have been coming out of India this past week about a mystery illness. I know, hundreds of people sick in 2020 isn’t something that really garners a lot of attention, but this one is different. It’s believed to be a case of mass neurotoxic poisoning, with over 600 known cases. This might be a dated reference, but think Erin Brockovich type stuff.
So what is the source? Initial testing found chemicals in victims that weren’t found in water or food sources. Local residents felt like it was due to mosquito spraying, which seems like it would be real easy to confirm or deny. Hey Tony, remember last week when you ran the spray truck, did you happen to directly spray any people? Oh, several hundred you say? Hmm, not good.
Okay I know there probably aren’t any “Tonys” working for municipalities in India, but randomly choosing a stereotypical name and accidentally pissing off 1.3 billion people didn’t seem like a good idea.
One of the symptoms being experienced is short term amnesia, which probably doesn’t help with trying to track down the source of the poisoning, right?
Adding to the mystery is that no common link can be determined. Different food sources, different water supplies, a wide range of ages in the affected.
So a week into the investigation, there are still no real answers. Tests carried out by the government found traces of pesticides, herbicides, and mercury in various food sources. Excessive lead levels were also found in the victims, so the food sources doesn’t answer all the questions. They’re also conducting additional tests of some of the local water sources. They don’t think the water is the source of this current affliction, but the tests discovered that the water contained pesticides in amounts thousands of times more than what is allowable. That’s nice to find out about your local water. What are they doing down at the water treatment plant, pumping it directly out of the ditches?
Just exciting stuff all around. Must be a great time to be buying food for your family, doesn’t matter what you eat or drink, seems like everything is contaminated.
The only upside so far is this, of the 613 people that have been diagnosed, only one death, and 599 have already been released from the hospital. Just something else to worry about in 2020.
-Kip
