An unidentified fever kills 49 children in India within a week

A “mystery fever” swept through parts of India’s largest Uttar Pradesh state, killing dozens of people, including children, within a week.

More than 40 children and a dozen of adults have died while hundreds are admitted in the hospitals of the eastern part of the state, officials said.

The rapid spread of the disease has led Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath to order an urgent increase in bed capacity at hospitals. He has also asked the district health department to conduct a detailed investigation into the cause of the fever.

Patients have been complaining of the symptoms of high fever, joint pains, headaches, dehydration and nausea. In some cases, the patients are also suffering decline in platelet counts and rashes on the body.

Those who died of the disease tested negative for Covid-19 and no link has been found with the ongoing pandemic.Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Manish Asija from Firozabad, one of the worst-affected regions, said on Monday that 40 children have died in the past few days in the district alone.

Mr Asija called the situation alarming and said the reasons could be “water-logging, lack of sanitation and hygiene are the reasons behind the disease spread.”

Cases have been reported from Firozabad, Agra, Mathura, Mainpuri, Etah, and Kasganj districts of the state.

Several physicians suspect it to be dengue fever, a mosquito-borne viral infection that is widespread in southeast Asia. But the state government has denied its link to dengue as well.

Mr Adityanath said that the first cases with the illness was detected on 18 August, adding that teams would be formed to conduct a probe.