Since 1995, there have been reports of children in Muzaffarpur, India, suddenly falling ill and having seizures, according to The New York Times. Often these children would slip into a deadly coma where 40 percent never awoke. Outbreaks of these illnesses usually begin in mid-May and end in July, around the same time that lychee fruits are harvested.
The cause of the yearly illness was unknown for a long time but researchers now believe they have found the source. According to a new report, the cause of the illness appears to be the lychee fruit, which is grown widely in orchards in the city of Muzaffarpur, where the illnesses occur.
In the new study, the researchers analyzed nearly 400 cases of children who developed this mysterious brain illness in 2014, and compared these cases with about 100 children who didn't have this illness.
The study of urine samples showed that two-thirds of the sick children had evidence of exposure to two toxins found in lychee seeds. The toxins are found in higher levels in unripe fruit but usually do not cause any problems.
While most people who eat lychees don't suffer from these toxins, they believe that the illness comes when children eat the lychees on an empty stomach. Results showed that children who developed the brain illness were twice as likely to have skipped their dinner, compared with those who didn't develop the illness.
