13 Die Of Mysterious Illness Following High Fever In Gujarat, Probe Underway

Thirteen people have died in Gujarat's Kachchh district due to a mysterious disease days after the region suffered from heavy rainfall. The doctors are yet to diagnose the disease accurately, said an official.

A 12-year-old died this morning in Sandro village adjacent to Bhekhda village. "The only thing on people's minds is what kind of fever this is that can't be treated even in Bhuj-Ahmedabad?" District Panchayat member Mamad Jung Jat said.

The patients who died from the mysterious disease had symptoms like fever, cold, cough and pneumonia, claimed locals. Young patients had reduced immunity following high fever and died of lung and liver damage.

Some aged patients died just two days after getting a fever. The health department could not verify the type of fever and said that it would only be confirmed after the report comes from Gandhinagar. They are currently investigating the situation.

A team of experts have been sent from Pandit Dindayal Upadhyay Medical College in Rajkot and Gujarat Adani Institute of Medical Sciences to find out the cause of deaths. The team has been asked to submit the report to the state government within two days, said officials.

A former member of Lakhpat Taluka panchayat said that the patients were first admitted to a private hospital in Vermanagar for treatment. Then the patients were taken to Dayapar CHC and after that, they were transferred to Bhuj General Hospital. From there, one patient was also taken to Ahmedabad for treatment.

All the patients died without the fever being cured, former member of panchayat Hussain Raima said.

"Primarily, the deaths appear to have been caused by pneumonia. It does not appear to be from contamination nor does it seem like a communicable disease," Amit Arora, the collector of Kachchh said.

"Samples are being collected for testing against dengue, malaria, H1N1 swine flu, and pneumonia. The family members of the affected are being provided updates, and 22 teams from the Health Department are keeping a close watch on this," he said.

"Besides that, different state-level teams have also arrived to conduct surveys and further verifications. The doctors, too, have been deployed for OPD checkups from the Magwana and Dayapar PSC Centers, the Kachchh collector said emphasising that the situation is under control," Mr Arora added.

Meanwhile, the Congress has accused the administration of negligence.

A Congress member has claimed that the patients died of pneumonia and has alleged that the health system is still asleep even after such a high number of deaths.

With inputs from Mahendra Prasad