Pakistan - 12 people of Rahim Yar Khan’s Laghari clan die of ‘mysterious disease’ - Probe confirms meningoencephalitis ?

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12 people of Rahim Yar Khan’s Laghari clan die of ‘mysterious disease’

Irfanul Haq Published January 4, 2023 Updated about 7 hours ago

Twelve people of the Laghari clan have died of a “mysterious disease”, which doctors say could be a brain inflammation based on preliminary investigations, in a village near Rahim Yar Khan, it emerged on Tuesday.
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SZMCH Principal Professor Dr Muhammad Saleem Laghari told Dawn.com that he had formed a committee comprising a physician, a paediatrician and a community medicine expert to probe the matter and submit a report within seven days.

“Initial investigations suggest the victims have acute viral meningoencephalitis, but something concrete can only be said after the probe,” he added. Meningoencephalitis is an inflammation of the brain.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1729893/12-people-of-rahim-yar-khans-laghari-clan-die-of-mysterious-disease

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Mysterious Disease Kills 12 Members of Same Family Within Days in Punjab

By Haroon Hayder | Published Jan 5, 2023 | 4:17 pm

A mysterious disease is spreading rapidly in a family living near Rahim Yar Khan. The unknown disease has claimed the lives of 12 members of the family in under 3 weeks.

According to reports, the victims are residents of Basti Laghari near the Tajpur Pirwala area in Rahim Yar Khan. All of the deaths occurred between 15 to 20 days.
Deputy District Health Officer (DDHO) Rahim Yar Khan, Dr. Hassan Mahmood, said that all of the victims experienced similar symptoms. First, they developed fever, then severe body pain, and finally uncontrolled sweating.

The official added that the department has collected food and water samples from the homes of the victims. The cause of death will be determined once the laboratory analyzes the samples.
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https://propakistani.pk/2023/01/05/mysterious-disease-kills-12-members-of-same-family-within-days-in-punjab/

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Undiagnosed disease claims 12 lives in village
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Farooq Sindhu
January 05, 2023

LAHORE:
A mysterious disease has left at least 12 people dead in a village of the Rahim Yar Khan district, including eight boys and girls from the same family. The fatalities have been reported during the past 11 days.

The patients complained of severe body ache along with high fever and most of them died within a day after their heartbeat increased. According to local villagers, the disease has not yet been diagnosed.
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Local people told The Express Tribune that 12 people of the village, including eight children living in a house, had fallen prey to the disease in the Basti Laghari area of Tajpur on the suburbs of Rukanpur.
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The victims were aged between two and 25 years, including 18-year-old twin sisters.

A seven-year-old boy and a one-and-a-half-year-old girl suffering from the illness were admitted to the Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Rahim Yar Khan. However, the boy died during treatment.
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https://tribune.com.pk/story/2394248/undiagnosed-disease-claims-12-lives-in-village

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Probe confirms meningoencephalitis behind 12 ‘mysterious’ deaths in Rahim Yar Khan

The Newspaper's Correspondent Published January 6, 2023 Updated about 10 hours ago

RAHIM YAR KHAN: The findings of the medical committee to investigate the cause of the death of 12 persons, most of the children and teenagers, at Basti Behram Leghari, Rukanpur, revealed that they all had died of meningoencephalitis.
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Chief Executive Officer District Health Authority Dr Hassan Khan told the reporters that the committee, constituted by Shaikh Zayed Medical College and Hospital Principal Dr Muhammad Saleem Leghari, after a detailed investigation into the cases, declared that all the 12 casualties were due to meningoencephalitis.

Mr Khan added that most probably these deaths in the same family were due to close contact. He said that the medical teams of the health department would visit the area to monitor the situation and spread public awareness on the disease.
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During the last 12 days as many children of the basti had expired in various medical facilities of the region. They were identified as Salma Bibi (9) and Umaira (10), Ijaz Ahmed (11), Maqsood Ahmed (26), Zubaida (24), Aysha (8), Rabia (20), Bushra (17), Shehnaz (2), Nazeera Bibi (17), Khadeeja Bibi (3) and Asif (2). They had developed similar symptoms and were shifted to three health facilities, including Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH), Bahawalpur, Shaikh Zayed Medical College Hospital (SZMCH) RYK and Al-Khalid Hospital on the National Highway, where they expired.
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1730142

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Bacterial (meningococcal) meningitis? Tough to imagine another agent capable of spreading that fast and killing that quickly.

The fact that no attempts at contact tracing or quarantine are mentioned seems to suggest that something like Nipah is unlikely (not to mention the much longer incubation period of such a virus).

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Eight more people in Rahim Yar Khan show mysterious disease symptoms

Irfanul Haq Published January 7, 2023 Updated about 12 hours ago

RAHIM YAR KHAN: Eight more residents of Basti Behram Leghari were shifted to the Shaikh Zayed Medical College Hospital (SZMCH) on Friday with the symptoms of the unidentified disease that had earlier claimed lives of more than 10 persons, mostly children.

The symptoms were detected among these persons when a committee formed and led by Health Services Director General Dr Sohail Arshad Rana in Lahore visited the village and screen the residents.

The committee comprising Additional Director Dr Imran Bashir, RYK District Health Authority (DHA) Chief Executive Officer Dr Hassan Khan, Additional Director (MIS) Dr Mohsin Watoo, WHO Bahawalpur Division EPI Officer Mufakir Mian, during its visit to the village, interviewed the members of the affected families and examined the rooms and other items used by them to probe into the deaths of more than 10 locals within a fortnight.

The committee members also collected the specimens from food, cattle and fodder with the help of officials of livestock department and the Punjab Food Authority (PFA).

It will furnish a fact-finding report to the Health Services DG within three days.

As per local sources, WHO member Dr Mufakir Mian had contradicted the view that meningoencephalitis caused the death of 12 residents of the village.
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1730301/ei...sease-symptoms


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Translation Google

Due to the mysterious illness, 9 more people were shifted to the hospital in critical condition

Yesterday too, 12 members of the same family died of the same disease

SHAUKAT ALI
8 hours ago

Due to the further spread of the mysterious disease in Rahim Yar Khan, 9 more members of the affected family have been hospitalized in critical condition.

9 people including 6 women and 3 men are among the more affected suspected patients in the neighboring area of Rakanpur, while a 5-member team of the World Health Organization reached the affected area along with the director of health.

The international experts met the relatives of the deceased and the people of the area and examined the adjacent areas, while the health department established a medical camp in the area to prevent the spread of the disease.

Livestock Department and Punjab Food Authority have also taken samples of food animals and humans from the area. According to the report of Health Department and Sheikh Zayed Hospital, meningitis caused the death of 12 people.

The team of the World Health Organization has started an investigation to find out all the possible causes of death of the people who died mysteriously.

https://www.aaj.tv/news/30311661/

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Yet another committee to probe Basti Behram deaths

The Newspaper's Correspondent Published January 8, 2023 Updated about 11 hours ago

RAHIM YAR KHAN: Yet another committee, this one by the district administration, has been formed to probe into the deaths of 12 persons at Basti Behram Leghari, because of an unidentified disease, as the number of the locals showing its ‘symptoms’ rose to 11 from eight, on Saturday.

A committee formed by Punjab director general health is already probing into the matter and was ordered to file a report within three days, while another committee formed earlier by the Shaikh Zayed Medical College Hospital (SZMCH) Principal Dr Muhammad Saleem Leghari had “confirmed” the deaths were caused by meningoencephalitis. However, World Health Organisation (WHO) representative Dr Mufakir had reportedly rejected the committee’s findings.

The three more suspected patients of the disease surfacing within the last 24 hours have been shifted to SZMCH here.

The total 11 suspected patients so far shifted to the SZMCH are Bushra (10), Nasrullah (15), Hajra (60), Amna (40), Haleeman Bibi (60), Khadeeja Mai (2), Ruqiya Bibi (18), Muhammad Niaz Ahmed (5), Hamza (one and a half years), Janat Bibi (25) and Habiba (one and a half years).
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District Health Officer Dr Liaqat Ali Chohan is the convener of the committee while Dr Saleh Ahmed is its focal person.
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1730441

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Unidentified disease: SZMCH tests show animal bacteria in samples of affected persons

The Newspaper's Correspondent Published January 10, 2023 Updated about 12 hours ago
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According to Dr Chohan, samples of nasal and throat swabs of 25 locals showing symptoms of disease were examined at the Sheikh Zayed Medical College College and Hospital (SZMCH) laboratory, where two of them found with different animal-related organisms.

One of them, Khadija, was found with Ersipelothrix Rhusiopathiae, and Naz had beeran 20 Streptococcus Alactolyticus in her specimens. Another patient, Khadeeja (2), Streptococcus Pneumonia was found.

After these findings, DHA dispatched samples and specimens of animals, water and food items of the affected people to the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad and other departments concerned, following health department’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

Mr Iqbal said there were no evidence in the analytical reports that the deceased persons were poisoned...

https://www.dawn.com/news/1730774

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S. Pneumonia is a common cause of meningitis, but has only been found in a single patient and may not be the cause of this outbreak. None of the other bacteria listed above are common human pathogens.

They probably should be testing for viruses as well, including influenza.

No article to date has listed the precise symptoms being reported in this outbreak. It is not clear that this is a single outbreak at this point.