Mystery fever in India’s state of Uttar Pradesh kills 256 people in just a ‘few days’
At least 13 more deaths have been reported since yesterday, pushing the death toll to 256, as hundreds of people infected with the unidentified virus swarm the district hospital in Akbarpur, Ramabai Nagar district (Kanpur Dehat), a report said.
At least 400 children have been infected with the mystery bug, district officials have reported.
“The disease started from Ahrauli Sheikh village in Amraudha block and within a month’s time spread to 48 villages, housing 3,000 families. It was also learnt that the infants who fell victims to the disease were suffering from acute malnutrition. ‘The infants were suffering from malnutrition and that made some of them vulnerable to the killer virus,’ said district nodal officer (epidemic) Arvind Sachan.” Times of India (TOI) reported.
“The new public health centres (PHC) in Sandalpur, Ursan, Musanagar, Gujrain, Kurwa Khurd and Baraur are operating without doctors and proper para-medical staff. Doctors sit at their private dispensaries in other villages. Our loved ones have died for no fault of theirs. Even none of the senior representatives from the state came here to take a note of the situation,” a social activist and a resident of Ahrauli Sheikh village told TOI.
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