At least 22 people fell sick since Thursday night, in an outbreak of an undiagnosed illness, in Komarepalle village in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, The New Indian Express reported. The patients showed similar symptoms to hundreds of those who suffered from a mysterious ailment in the state’s Eluru town last month. Komarepalle is about 20 kilometres away from Eluru.

“Six of these patients have been discharged after treatment while 15 were admitted to the District Hospital in Eluru,” an official told PTI. “Another person was getting treated in the local hospital in Poolla mandal headquarters.” Water and food samples from the houses of the victims, nearby hotels and a wholesale vegetable market have been collected for testing, the official said.

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Meanwhile, 29 people in Pulla village of the same district also showed similar symptoms on Wednesday, according to The News Minute. However, 23 of them were discharged after treatment. The affected patients in both cases showed symptoms such as fainting, frothing, convulsions, vomiting and others, some of which were similar to the Eluru illness.

Deputy Chief Minister (Health) AKK Srinivas visited the patients and hinted that there could be foul play involved in the outbreaks. “We are considering if there is a conspiracy,” he said, according to PTI. “We have this suspicion, going by what the people here said. So, we can’t rule that out. But we can’t confirm that as well.”

In December, over 600 people suffered from the undiagnosed illness, which also resulted in one death. A report submitted by an expert group to the Andhra Pradesh government pointed to pesticide residues and heavy metal contamination in blood samples of the patients as the main reasons behind the ailment.

Also read: What was behind the mystery illness that struck Eluru in Andhra Pradesh