Malkangiri: The district health department has claimed that consumption of excessive country liquor and toxic food has led to the death of villagers at Haladikund village under Mathili block of Malkangiri district as a joint team of public representatives and health officials visited the village Sunday and took stock of the situation. The team comprising zilla parishad chairperson Shamari Tangul, chief district medical officer (CDMO) Prafulla Kumar Nanda, Mathili block chairperson Mahesh Baka visited the village.
They were accompanied by local health personnel and public representatives. They managed to placate nine persons and admitted them to Mathili hospital. The disease continues to baffle all with the health officials and villagers adopting different standpoints on the issue. The health department said that the deaths occurred not due to spread of any mysterious disease but due to excessive consumption of country liquor and toxic food. The health department has said that the villagers had consumed the meat of a dead livestock some days back and consumed excessive liquor.
As a result, toxicity increased in their body resulting in swelling of their limbs, fever and subsequent deaths. The villagers, however, instead of going to the hospital resorted to the traditional healers and quacks for which 12 of them died within a period of eight days. The government estimates pegged the number of deaths at seven while the villagers claimed it to be 12.
Earlier, a medical team had collected the blood samples of the affected persons for examination. The team also collected the samples of drinking water, blood and liquor from some houses for examination. When contacted, CDMO Nanda also said that the deaths occurred due to the consumption of excessive liquor and toxic food. The villagers however, rejected the claims. They said that some of the deceased never consumed liquor then how could they contract the disease. Meanwhile, some villagers were Sunday seen jointly consuming liquor with the kin of a deceased to exorcise the evil spirit.