3 ms·

Looks like they were somewhat on the right track in 2011 http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/toll-47-bihar-may-declare-mystery-disease-epidemic/809168/0 http:

Looks like they were somewhat on the right track in 2011 http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/toll-47-bihar-may-declare-mystery-disease-epidemic/809168/0 http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/toll-47-bihar-may-decl...: > "A study by the Indian Council of Medical Research concluded that a toxin from kasaundhi trees, being transmitted to humans through insects, caused the disease. The trees were cut and the disease subsided. Litchi trees and mosquitoes present in the region should be studied for this disease," suggested Shah.

Laforet 10y ago
Growing up in another country where lychees are commonly eaten, most people were already informed about the fruit's ability to cause hypoglycemia. I remember being told off by parents and older relatives on having too many lychees between meals but again I never heard of any cases of death either. A casual search on the causative agent (hypoglycin) suggest its presence and mode of action has been well studied since the 1970s, and I wonder why this connection has not been made sooner.
- KSS42 10y ago
  From the article : How has this link not been made before? The researchers said the lychee's potential toxic effects were noted in ancient literature from China, where the fruit originates, however the commercial lychee industry in India is relatively young and has expanded quickly. "This knowledge has been slow to reach certain parts of Asia where the so-called mysterious lychee disease has been attributed to various causes (fruit colouring, heat stroke) in Bihar, India, to an unidentified pesticide in north-west Bangladesh and, after an exhaustive negative virological search, to a yet-to-be-discovered neurotropic virus in northeast Vietnam," Professor Peter Spencer and Dr Valerie Palmer wrote in a Lancet paper discussing the research.

3 ms·

Looks like they were somewhat on the right track in 2011 http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/toll-47-bihar-may-declare-mystery-disease-epidemic/809168/0 http:

by parennoob 10y ago

Laforet 10y ago
Growing up in another country where lychees are commonly eaten, most people were already informed about the fruit's ability to cause hypoglycemia. I remember being told off by parents and older relatives on having too many lychees between meals but again I never heard of any cases of death either. A casual search on the causative agent (hypoglycin) suggest its presence and mode of action has been well studied since the 1970s, and I wonder why this connection has not been made sooner.
- KSS42 10y ago
  From the article : How has this link not been made before? The researchers said the lychee's potential toxic effects were noted in ancient literature from China, where the fruit originates, however the commercial lychee industry in India is relatively young and has expanded quickly. "This knowledge has been slow to reach certain parts of Asia where the so-called mysterious lychee disease has been attributed to various causes (fruit colouring, heat stroke) in Bihar, India, to an unidentified pesticide in north-west Bangladesh and, after an exhaustive negative virological search, to a yet-to-be-discovered neurotropic virus in northeast Vietnam," Professor Peter Spencer and Dr Valerie Palmer wrote in a Lancet paper discussing the research.