Jammu, Feb 8 A remote village in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district has been hit by a genetic disease that causes deafness and dumbness.At least 72 cases of the disease have surfaced in Gandoh area.'All the victims are deaf and dumb. New born babies are also affected by the disease,' Health and Medical Education Minister Mangat Ram Sharma told the state assembly Thursday.The minister said the number is likely to increase as the newborn babies are also deaf and dumb.The village falls in Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's Bhaderwah constituency. The minister said the government is unable to do much as the health studies have found it incurable.National Conference leader Mian Altaf Ahmed, who is a Gujjar, alleged that since all instances are detected in the nomadic community the government is not taking sufficient steps to control it.'All the victims belong to Gujjar community and that is why no one is bothered about them,' he alleged.Sharma, however, said the matter was referred to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, but no cure was found so far to address the disease.A team of doctors would be deputed to the area to conduct a fresh study, he added.
(c) Indo-Asian News Service
