“The tests were conducted on different samples in some of the most reputed labs in the country. These include the National Institute of Virology Pune, the National Centre for Disease Control New Delhi, the National Institute of Toxicology and Research Lucknow, the Defence Research Development Establishment Gwalior, the Microbiology Department of PGIMER Chandigarh besides the ICMR-Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory, GMC Jammu,” an official spokesman said.The team of state rapid response experts, including epidemiologists, microbiologists, and others from DHS Jammu, GMC Jammu, and Rajouri, visited the area to conduct detailed screening and collect contact tracing samples. Experts from NCDC, NIV Pune, and PGI Chandigarh also visited the area to assist in containing the situation.An official spokesman said the clinical reports, lab investigations, and environmental samples indicate that the incidents are not due to a communicable disease.“The toxicological analysis conducted by CSIR-IITR has detected toxins in multiple biological specimens,” he said.With health authorities not detecting any bacterial, or viral infection or disease in the deaths so far, the authorities have asked police to investigate the deaths. Police have formed an 11-member SIT for investigating the deaths.The SIT is headed by Superintendent of Police (SP) Budhal Wajahat Hussain. The team members would also include experts from forensic microbiology, paediatric and pathology departments. The SIT will utilise the services of experts from the Food and Safety departments, Agriculture, Jal Shakti and experts of FSL Jammu during the investigations.
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