UP: Mystery viral fever kills over 40 children in Ferozabad, Centre rushes expert team to examine

New Delhi: An expert team comprising officials from National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) has been rushed to Ferozabad in Uttar Pradesh to assess the mystery viral fever which has killed over 40 children there, a top official from the union health ministry said.

The official said that the cases are largely dengue fever and scrub typhus, both are vector-borne diseases.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who visited Ferozabad two days ago, had stated that at least eight to nine localities in the district were hit by the mystery dengue-like viral fever.

For more than a week now, children in some districts in Western Uttar Pradesh have been waking up with a high fever and drenched in sweat.

Many of them complained of joint pains, headaches, dehydration and nausea. In some cases, they reported rashes spreading across legs and arms.

Health Ministry sources suggest that samples from Mathura have shown Dengue having 70 per cent of prevalence and remaining with scrub typhus, he added.

The cases and deaths have been reported from Western UP’s Agra, Mathura, Ferozabad, Mainpuri, Etah and Kasganj. (UNI)