Even as the State Government directed the officials for sample tests of the litchi sold in the State, the fruit vanished from the markets on Wednesday.
Earlier, health experts had suspected that the deaths of children in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur were linked to toxins present in this popular fruit.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das has directed the Food Safety Commissioners to get the sample test done of litchi being sold in various markets to ascertain whether it has any links to the disease or not.
“We have asked for a sample test of litchi as we don’t want the Bihar episode to be repeated here,” Das told reporters.
Notably, litchi is being most commonly blamed for the Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) outbreak in Bihar. The mystery fever has already killed more than 100 children in Muzaffarpur district, renowned for its litchi crop
Research suggests that litchi fruit contains a toxin that can cause low blood sugar level, especially when eaten on an empty stomach. Earlier some health officials had said that eating litchis on an empty stomach and dehydration due to extreme heat and humidity were some of the causes of the outbreak of encephalitis in Bihar.