Plot to harm lychee farmers with AES link? Rudy for probe

NEW DELHI: BJP member from Bihar, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, urged the government on Friday to probe whether linking deaths of children due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in the state to consumption of lychees was part of a conspiracy to damage the brand name of the fruit. Other members too expressed concern over the situation in Muzaffarpur where over 120 children have died so far due to the outbreak.
Participating in a debate during the Zero Hour in Lok Sabha, Rudy said, "We are told that eating lychee by children in Bihar's Muzaffarpur may be cause of AES. This is a conspiracy to damage the brand name of lychee... We have been eating lychees since our childhood but we did not suffer from AES."
Noting how many people have stopped eating lychees and drinking lychee juice due to some 'misinformation', he said, "The government must probe if there is conspiracy to harm interests of Indian lychee farmers by linking death of children due to AES in Muzaffarpur to consumption of lychee."
Independent child specialist Arun Shah who formerly headed the Bihar chapter of Indian Association of Paediatrics had said that consumption of unripe lychee, containing a high concentration of toxin, could be behind the AES outbreak.
However, medical opinion remains divided over the causes of the outbreak.
^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

References

1. ^{^} Bihar (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
2. ^{^} Rajiv Pratap Rudy (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
3. ^{^} Muzaffarpur (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
4. ^{^} Lok Sabha (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
5. ^{^} lychee (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

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