31 fall ill after attending funeral service ; food poisoning suspected

Nongpoh, May 12: Dozens of villagers from Nongladew village in Ri Bhoi district of Meghalaya fell ill after attending a funeral service in Mariampur under Goalpara District of Assam. As many as 41 villagers had attended the funeral rituals of their relative on May 9. However, on Wednesday night (May 10), 31 of them returned home and fell ill, prompting immediate action from health officials.
The health officials of Patharkhmah Community Health Centre (CHC) were informed about the incident and they arranged for ambulances and other private vehicles to ferry the patients to the CHC for immediate treatment. Ten of them who hadn’t returned home that day were still being hospitalized in a hospital in neighbouring Assam.
The villagers had consumed fish, potato, and dal during the funeral service, and many of them complained of illness when they returned home. While the exact cause of the illness is not known, the villagers suspect the fish, which they believe was poisoned, to be the reason for their condition.
Dr. L. Gashnga, who works at Patharkhmah CHC, stated that the patients were admitted to the hospital and that some of them were discharged after receiving medical attention, while others were still under medical care.
Meanwhile, a team from the office of the District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) of Ri Bhoi was dispatched to Patharkhmah to take samples of the patients for thorough testing to find out the exact cause of their illness.
This incident follows a similar incident in Garo Hills, where people fell ill after attending a funeral service in Mariampur.