Scientific panel formed to check fever that killed over 120

Calcutta News.Net
Wednesday 27th August, 2008 (IANS)

A panel of scientists, including experts from National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, has been formed to contain a mysterious fever that has claimed over 120 lives in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur division in the last three weeks, an official said Wednesday.

'The scientific panel will be headed by M.M. Gore of NIV. At present, Gore is associated with NIV's field station in Gorakhpur district (of Uttar Pradesh),' an NIV scientist told IANS on phone from Pune.

Gore's field of specialisation is anti-viral immunology, she said.

Besides NIV experts, scientists and doctors from Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Science, Lucknow, B.R.D. Medical College Gorakhpur and other hospitals are also the members of the panel, sources said.

I.S. Srivastava, director general (medical and health), confirmed that the scientific panel has been constituted to counter the mysterious fever.

The unofficial count of the deaths due to the mysterious disease in six districts of Kanpur division is 160.

The worst hit by the mystery disease is Akbarpur district, where 100 people have died, said a district administration official.

Several villages of the district including Akorhi, Satti, Naseerpur and Chataina are badly affected, he added.

Even as experts fear the disease can spread to adjoining districts of Kanpur division, health officials refused to comment.

The mysterious disease, which is afflicting about 8-10 people daily, is marked by high fever, an official said. Symptoms of the mystery disease are similar to that of malaria and jaundice, he added.

A team of officials from the union health ministry arrived in Kanpur rural district and collected patients' blood samples.

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