VISAKHAPATNAM: A medical team comprising superintendent of Hospital for Mental Care, a neuro specialist and a physician rushed to Pentakota, a fishing village on East Godavari district study the mysterious disease wherein people of this village are said to suffer a sudden memory loss.

“We are organising a free medical check up were our doctors would conduct through examinations on the suspected people who have reportedly suffering mental problems,” district medical and health officer G V Subba Rao told The Times of India.

A water analyst from the public health regional lab here was also sent to test the water and its sources in the village. About 35 people in the village have been behaving in an unusual manner and their neighbors have branded them as mentally-retarded.

Of 2,700 people, fifty percent of them are fishermen. As the cases were on rise for some time, the villagers got tested the water, which revealed that the water contains abnormal fluoride and iodine. They prevailed upon the authorities to pump water from Gopalapatnam, a nearby village two-km away.

The project is not yet taken up due to shortage of funds. Subba Rao said that the team would examine all the suspected patients and serve medicines on the spot.

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