Hair crisis! Mysterious hair-loss epidemic in three Maharashtra villages leaves over 55 bald

Mumbai: It's a baffling medical phenomenon which has surfaced in three villages of Buldhana district's Shegaon tehsil in Maharashtra, with more than 55 residents suffering from sudden hair loss. This outbreak, reported earlier this month, has been causing widespread anxiety and has forced health officials to conduct an all-out investigation into the matter.

Unusual hair loss sparks alarm

It is alleged that the disease first began appearing on January 2 when three women belonging to the same household in Bondgaon suffered extreme hair fall. Within days, their condition deteriorated to become completely bald. "When similar cases started appearing among other villagers, we contacted district health officials," said Rameshwar Dharkar, sarpanch of Bondgaon. Villagers complain that even slight touch makes hairs fall in clusters, leaving most of them fully bald within a week.

Government probe on

Health officials are gathering water, hair, and skin samples for lab tests. An initial investigation seems to indicate it could be a fungal infection; however, contamination of water is not entirely out of the question. "We have taken samples from the villages and sent them to a laboratory in Pune for testing. Water quality and environmental factors seem to be on our agenda as possible causes," said Dr. Deepali Bhayekar, tehsil-level medical officer.

Fears reside amongst the locals

We fear this could be due to some grave health threat or environmental contamination," said a local resident. Local water sources are no longer used by most; instead, villagers fetch it from other nearby regions. "Fungal infection is a probable cause, but the scale of this outbreak is unprecedented," district medical officer Dr. Amol Gite added.

"Perhaps poor hygiene, environmental changes—saline water used in villages may be one of the main culprits, especially when hair is not dried properly after washing. Probably, global warming and increased rainfall could have changed the nature of groundwater so that this condition is more widespread now," added Dr. Sanjay Mahajan, a local medical practitioner.

District Collector Kiran Patil said that the villages have been using the same water supply for generations, which makes contamination less likely. "The results of the tests will guide us on the next steps," Patil assured. Meanwhile, preliminary treatment is being given to the affected residents, and doctors are urging everyone to maintain hygiene and avoid using untreated water.