"Mystery fever" in West Bengal

[Gert van der Hoek]

From West Bengal

Mystery fever

Durgapur, March 26:

A couple died of an unknown fever at the block hospital in Bankura?s Sonamukhi last night.

A dozen other villagers are in hospital with high temperature and over 100 are said to be unwell in their village. Habul Lohar, 22, and Bamani, 19, were taken to the hospital unconscious.

Their blood samples have been sent for tests.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080327/jsp/bengal/story_9062213.jsp

 

[HenryN]

Re: "Mystery fever" in West Bengal

Two dead, 12 down with ‘fever’
Statesman News Service
BISHNUPUR, March 26: An “unknown” fever has recently claimed two lives in Bankura. The fever ~ yet to be detected ~ has concerned blocks across Bishnupur sub-division. As many as 12 persons have been taken ill and have reportedly contracted the same disease.
The district health administration has sounded high alert in the area and medical teams have been sent to the remotest parts of the villages.
Panic gripped villages in Patrasayar and Sonamukhi last week when members of quite a few families were affected by the fever.
Initially, the patients got themselves diagnosed at the local health centres, thinking it to be a normal fever. But when the temperatures kept rising, the patients started making a beeline at the Patrasayar and Sonamukhi block health centres. According to the officials, more than 150 persons arrived at the block health centres last week with high fever.
On Tuesday a couple Habul Lohar (22) and Bamani Lohar (19) ~ residents of Bonbirsingha village ~ were rushed to Sonamukhi block health centre with high fever. Both the Lohars were in an almost unconscious state while their bodies were burning with high temperatures, a block medical officer said. The couple died very soon in consecutive hours at the block hospital.
The death of the couple sparked off sensation in the villages. The district health administration also took a serious note of the situation.
Dr MM Das, chief medical officer of health services, Bankura rushed to the Sonamukhi block hospital to enquire whether the block hospital had any lapses while attending the cases. Dr Das later told The Statesman: "The couple was taken to the hospital in a gasping condition. The hospital administered life saving drugs containing steroid and referred both the cases to Bankura Sammiloni Medical College & Hospital (BSMCH)."
The authorities added: "There was none to take the patients to the BSMCH which invited the casualties far away from better medical supervision." The Bankura administration meanwhile has dispatched medical teams to a few villages in Sonamukhi and Patrasayar blocks. Dr Subhankar Banerjee, block medical officer, Patrasayar led a team to Bonbirsingha village and its adjacent Champaboni on Wednesday. In Role and Chichinga villages in Indas Block 20 cases of unknown fever have been reported. Similar reports have come from few Sonamukhi block villages.

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=23&theme=&usrsess=1&id=196796

 

[Shiloh]

Re: "Mystery fever" in West Bengal

Source: http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=23&theme=&usrsess=1&id=196796

Two dead, 12 down with ?fever?

Statesman News Service
BISHNUPUR, March 26: An ?unknown? fever has recently claimed two lives in Bankura. The fever ~ yet to be detected ~ has concerned blocks across Bishnupur sub-division. As many as 12 persons have been taken ill and have reportedly contracted the same disease.
The district health administration has sounded high alert in the area and medical teams have been sent to the remotest parts of the villages.
Panic gripped villages in Patrasayar and Sonamukhi last week when members of quite a few families were affected by the fever.
Initially, the patients got themselves diagnosed at the local health centres, thinking it to be a normal fever. But when the temperatures kept rising, the patients started making a beeline at the Patrasayar and Sonamukhi block health centres. According to the officials, more than 150 persons arrived at the block health centres last week with high fever.
On Tuesday a couple Habul Lohar (22) and Bamani Lohar (19) ~ residents of Bonbirsingha village ~ were rushed to Sonamukhi block health centre with high fever. Both the Lohars were in an almost unconscious state while their bodies were burning with high temperatures, a block medical officer said. The couple died very soon in consecutive hours at the block hospital.
The death of the couple sparked off sensation in the villages. The district health administration also took a serious note of the situation.
Dr MM Das, chief medical officer of health services, Bankura rushed to the Sonamukhi block hospital to enquire whether the block hospital had any lapses while attending the cases. Dr Das later told The Statesman: "The couple was taken to the hospital in a gasping condition. The hospital administered life saving drugs containing steroid and referred both the cases to Bankura Sammiloni Medical College & Hospital (BSMCH)."
The authorities added: "There was none to take the patients to the BSMCH which invited the casualties far away from better medical supervision." The Bankura administration meanwhile has dispatched medical teams to a few villages in Sonamukhi and Patrasayar blocks. Dr Subhankar Banerjee, block medical officer, Patrasayar led a team to Bonbirsingha village and its adjacent Champaboni on Wednesday. In Role and Chichinga villages in Indas Block 20 cases of unknown fever have been reported. Similar reports have come from few Sonamukhi block villages.

 

[Laidback Al]

Re: "Mystery fever" in West Bengal

Panic gripped villages in Patrasayar and Sonamukhi last week when members of quite a few families were affected by the fever.

Location maps

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: "Mystery fever" in West Bengal

A personal comment:

"Mystery Fevers" and "Unknown Illnesses" are reported on a regular base from India. If you look for it, you can find dozens of newsreports.

This reports comes from a H5N1 hotzone, so we should look twice. No more, no less.

 

[Snowy Owl]

Re: "Mystery fever" in West Bengal

What is concerning me on this particular one, is the problem of overcrowding rodents that came after a natural cycle (bamboos) but was made worst by the floods in this region.

I am trying to get in contact with two GPs in the area, but there Internet communications seems to be down for now.

Snowy

We should keep an ete on this one from what I know.

Dutchy is right tough, fever outbreak are very common in former Bengal, particularly in the change of season, this is well documented.

 

[Snowy Owl]

Re: "Mystery fever" in West Bengal

...Village empties in fear
Durgapur, March 26: Residents of Nimcha in Ranigunj fled their homes early this morning after about 100sqft of earth caved in on the fringes of the village and flames leapt out.

Around 4am today, when the village about 230km from Calcutta was fast asleep, the patch of land subsided with a rumbling sound. Villagers woke up and saw thick smoke billowing out of a gaping hole only about 50 feet from the nearest house.

Eastern Coalfields Ltd officials rushed to the spot, cordoned off the area and started filling up the hole with sand and mud.

A cloud of smoke hung over the area through the day, making breathing difficult. ECL officials said an underground fire was eating up the coal reserves and the surface was becoming subsidence-prone. This is the third cave-in at Nimcha since January.

Villagers accused the ECL of lifting coal without taking precautions against subsidence and underground fire. Sitaram Mukherjee, 25, said: ?We live in perpetual fear.?

Seven families have been evacuated from the village in the past few months. ECL general manager K.P. Singh said: ?After an ongoing survey is completed, we?ll dig a canal between the fire-prone area and the village so that the fire does not spread.?

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080327/jsp/bengal/story_9062211.jsp

 

[Shiloh]

Re: "Mystery fever" in West Bengal

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1172460
Fourteen children die of mystery fever
PTI
Friday, June 20, 2008 20:50 IST
RAIGUNJ (WEST BENGAL): Fourteen children have died of a hitherto unknown fever in North Dinajpur district of West Bengal since June 13.

District chief medical officer S S Sahu said children, aged between four months and eight years, were suffering from a fever, the cause of which was yet to be ascertained.

The disease has spread to Gopalpor, Domohona and Rosakhoa villages of Karandighi block.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunshi, who is the sitting MP from Raigunj constituency, told reporters here that Union Health Ministry has been alerted.

"I have asked Union Health Minister A Ramadoss for a medical team to examine the nature of the disease," he added.

A medical team under the supervision of Dr Santanu Haldar, the State Director of Health (Malaria), has already arrived at Karandighi.

The health department has asked the villagers to use boiled water and mosquito nets.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: "Mystery fever" in West Bengal

Source: http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=1&theme=&usrsess=1&id=209486

New virus strain behind child deaths suspected

Pranesh Sarkar
KOLKATA, June 22: At a time when the state health department is groping in the dark about the reason behind the deaths of 13 children over a span of six days at Karandighi in North Dinajpur, an experts? team from the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) and the city-based virus unit of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) suspected a new strain of virus has hit the area.
?We have tried to find out the exact cause behind the deaths of the children. But the symptoms suggest that the disease is neither measles nor Japanese Encephalitis, which were primarily suspected to be the cause of deaths. It is probably a new strain of virus, which can be confirmed only after detailed test of viscera samples at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune,? said an expert who visited the area.
Earlier, the state health department had suspected measles was causing children deaths in the area. But as the experts? teams made it clear that measles was not the cause of deaths, the state health department is now facing a real trouble. A team from the NIV would visit the area soon.
Dr MK Bhattacharya, additional director of NICED and ICMR's city-based virus unit, said: ?Convulsion is the main symptom of the disease. And the patient is dying within a short span of time. We have collected one sample which will be sent to NIV soon. It appears that the disease is caused by a new strain of virus. It could be confirmed by the NIV after detailed examination of the sample.?
?So far, it can be said that as the victims had no record of high temperature or rashes, it can't be measles. Similarly, as only children between the age group of 1-6 years are falling victim to the disease, it can't be Japanese Encephalitis or Nipah virus. All these suggest it is perhaps a new strain of virus, which is yet to be diagnosed,? he added.

 

[Giuseppe]

_|UNDIAGNOSED FATAL DISEASE, CHILDREN, INDIA (WEST BENGAL) via Promed|_

_|UNDIAGNOSED FATAL DISEASE, CHILDREN, INDIA (WEST BENGAL) via Promed|_

UNIDENTIFIED VIRUS, FATAL, CHILDREN - INDIA: (WEST BENGAL), REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

[From Promed, see original text at: http://apex.oracle.com/pls/otn/f?p=..._BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,72903 - IOH]

A ProMED-mail post http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases http://www.isid.org

Date: Sun 22 Jun 2008
Source: The Statesman [edited] http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=1&theme=&usrsess=1&id=209486


New virus strain behind child deaths suspected
----------------------------------------------
At a time when the state health department is groping in the dark about the reason behind the deaths of 13 children over a span of 6 days at Karandighi in North Dinajpur, an experts' team from the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) and the city-based virus unit of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) suspected a new strain of virus has hit the area.

"We have tried to find out the exact cause behind the deaths of the children. But the symptoms suggest that the disease is neither measles nor Japanese encephalitis, which were primarily suspected to be the cause of deaths. It is probably a new strain of virus, which can be confirmed only after detailed test of viscera samples at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune," said an expert who visited the area.

Earlier, the state health department had suspected measles was causing children deaths in the area. But as the experts' teams made it clear that measles was not the cause of deaths, the state health department is now facing a real trouble. A team from the NIV will visit the area soon. Dr MK Bhattacharya, additional director of NICED and ICMR's city-based virus unit, said: "Convulsion is the main symptom of the disease. And the patient is dying within a short span of time. We have collected one sample, which will be sent to NIV soon. It appears that the disease is caused by a new strain of virus.
It could be confirmed by the NIV after detailed examination of the sample."

"So far, it can be said that as the victims had no record of high temperature or rashes, it can't be measles. Similarly, as only children between the age group of 1-6 years are falling victim to the disease, it can't be Japanese encephalitis or Nipah virus. All these suggest it is perhaps a new strain of virus, which is yet to be diagnosed," he added.

[Byline: Pranesh Sarkar)

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail promed@promedmail.org

[Japanese encephalitis, Nipah virus, and measles have been excluded on rather arbitrary reasoning, and the description of the disease is too limited to allow further speculation. Also it is not entirely clear why the deaths have been attributed to virus infection. The result of the investigation by the National Institute of Virology in Pune is awaited with interest, but the provision of a single clinical sample will restrict the scope of any investigation.

The city of Karandighi is located in the North Dinajpur district of the Indian state of West Bengal, close to the border with Bangladesh.
West Bengal can be located on the HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of India at http://healthmap.org/promed?v=22.9,79.6,5
Karandighi can be found at http://www.maplandia.com/india/west-bengal/west-dinajpur/karandighi/. - Mod.CP]

[see also:
2007
----
Nipah virus, fatal - India (West Bengal) (02) 20070511.1514
Avian influenza (80): India (West Bengal), susp 20070508.1485
Nipah virus, fatal - India (West Bengal) 20070508.1484
Undiagnosed deaths - India (West Bengal): RFI 20070426.1365]
...................................cp/mj/dk
-
-------

 

[HenryN]

Re: _|UNDIAGNOSED FATAL DISEASE, CHILDREN, INDIA (WEST BENGAL) via Promed|_

Re: _|UNDIAGNOSED FATAL DISEASE, CHILDREN, INDIA (WEST BENGAL) via Promed|_

UNIDENTIFIED VIRUS, FATAL, CHILDREN - INDIA: (WEST BENGAL), REQUEST FOR INFORMATION


[Japanese encephalitis, Nipah virus, and measles have been excluded on rather arbitrary reasoning, and the description of the disease is too limited to allow further speculation. Also it is not entirely clear why the deaths have been attributed to virus infection. The result of the investigation by the National Institute of Virology in Pune is awaited with interest, but the provision of a single clinical sample will restrict the scope of any investigation.

The city of Karandighi is located in the North Dinajpur district of the Indian state of West Bengal, close to the border with Bangladesh.
West Bengal can be located on the HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of India at http://healthmap.org/promed?v=22.9,79.6,5
Karandighi can be found at http://www.maplandia.com/india/west-bengal/west-dinajpur/karandighi/. - Mod.CP]

[see also:
2007
----
Nipah virus, fatal - India (West Bengal) (02) 20070511.1514
Avian influenza (80): India (West Bengal), susp 20070508.1485
Nipah virus, fatal - India (West Bengal) 20070508.1484
Undiagnosed deaths - India (West Bengal): RFI 20070426.1365]
...................................cp/mj/dk
-
-------

Testing of more than one sample would be useful.

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: "Mystery fever" in West Bengal

Unknown fever toll increases

RAIGANJ, June 25: Another child died from the unknown disease in North Dinajpur district today even as experts from the National Institute of Virology, visited the fever affected villages in Karandighi, North Dinajpur district and collected blood samples from bats and pigs.

A six-year-old boy Muhammad Naseem succumbed to the illness he contracted on 24 June. The child was a resident of Chhoto Burhan, a village in Karandighi, North Dinajpur. The death takes the toll to 18 from the unknown disease in the area.

A five-member team guided by a scientist Dr B Dandale met the affected children in Karandighi hospital and collected serum samples from them today.

Later the team visited the affected villages and collected blood sample from pigs and bats.

The deputy chief medical officer of North Dinajpur Dr Manikanchan Saha said: ?More samples from bats would be collected tonight.?

Residents of the area are panicky, as the origin of the disease remains unknown delaying treatment and prevention methods. n SNS

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=10&theme=&usrsess=1&id=210027

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: "Mystery fever" in West Bengal

Archive Number 20080625.1954
Published Date 25-JUN-2008
Subject PRO/EDR> Unidentified virus, fatal, children - India (02): (WB) RFI

UNIDENTIFIED VIRUS, FATAL, CHILDREN - INDIA (02): (WEST BENGAL)
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
***************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Date: Tue 24 Jun 2008
From: T Jacob John <vlr_tjjohn@sancharnet.in>


Re: Unidentified virus, fatal, children - India: (WB), RFI 20080623.1939
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The news about encephalitis due to unknown virus states that the
illness was not measles -- children did not have high fever or a rash.

There is a relatively poorly known background to the connection
between measles and convulsions with high case-fatality in young
children.

There were 2 reports on measles virus etiology in such
illness (1-2). Later, the same laboratory misclassified an outbreak
of fatal illness in adults in Siliguri (West Bengal) also as due to
measles virus infection (3). The evidence presented in all these
reports had many flaws and their veracity has been seriously
questioned (4, 5). The 1st outbreak claimed to be due to measles
virus infection had already been reported as clinical Reye syndrome
(6). The Siliguri outbreak has subsequently been diagnosed as Nipah
virus disease (7). I have learned from reliable sources that the
problem was recurrent lab contamination with measles vaccine virus.
However, measles without rash causing acute fatal convulsive disease
has become widely accepted among pediatricians in India and there has
been no correction of error or retraction of reports.

The illness with convulsions in young children in the reports above
was not encephalitis but encephalopathy -- with acute onset, rapid
deterioration, CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) without pleocytosis, death
within a day or 2, and full recovery of those who did not die.

Another annually recurrent "acute encephalitis due to unknown virus"
in western Uttar Pradesh has turned out to be a non-infectious,
non-encephalitic illness now named acute hepato-myo-encephalopathy
(HME) (8).

In short, there is a tendency to jump to the conclusion that any
illness with convulsions in young children is "encephalitis" and all
such episodes are due to viruses.

The HME syndrome is due to toxicity
from a plant -- _Cassia occidentalis_ (raw seeds or beans) (9). The
recent cluster of cases in West Bengal may also be due to plant
toxicity, but investigation requires detailed clinical description,
essential lab investigations on CSF and blood serum, and a best-fit
clinical diagnosis -- such as acute encephalopathy, Reye syndrome,
acute HME syndrome etc., followed by careful epidemiologic
investigations. There is no short-cut, and sophisticated but
misplaced virological investigations tend to lead local doctors and
the health system astray.

- snip -


Dr T Jacob John
Former Prof and head of Clinical Virology
Christian Medical College
Vellore
India
vlr_tjjohn@sancharnet.in

[We'd like to thank Dr T Jacob John for his comments. He points out
some very real challenges in the diagnoses of outbreaks with
neurologic manifestations in India both in terms of clinical
interpretations of events as well as laboratory support and
interpretation of laboratory findings.

If there are ProMED-mail
subscribers currently in West Bengal with more detailed information
of the clinical syndrome reported in the newswire of the original
ProMED-mail posting on this outbreak (Unidentified virus, fatal,
children - India: (WB), RFI 20080623.1939) and results of
investigations conducted to date as per Dr John's suggestions,
ProMED-mail would greatly appreciate receiving this information.

For the HealthMap/ProMED interactive map of India with links to other
recent outbreak reports in India and neighboring countries, go to
http://healthmap.org/promed?v=22.9,79.6,5. - Mod.MPP]


More , including References :

http://www.promedmail.org/pls/otn/f..._BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,72922

 

[Shiloh]

Re: "Mystery fever" in West Bengal

Source: http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=10&theme=&usrsess=1&id=210986

Child deaths: Panic grips parents, kids shifted elsewhere

RAIGANJ, June 30: With the death of 19 children in different villages of Karandighi block in North Dinajpur district, parents are now sending off their children elsewhere for safety sake. The origin of the disease remains unknown and the district health authorities have not been able to do anything about it.
The first of the child deaths occurred on 14 June at Rasakhoa village. Since then, 18 children aged between 1 and 7 have died in different villages of Karandighi block. Teams of specialist doctors from the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri, School of Tropical Medicine in Kolkata, National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases in Kolkata, National Institute of Virology Department in Pune and National Institute of Communicable Diseases in New Delhi visited the affected villages over the past few days but the origin of the disease remains untraced.
Fearing that it must be infectious, parents have in the meantime, started shifting their children to the adjoining districts for their well being.
The Chief Medical Officer, Health, North Dinajpur district Dr S S Sahoo said: ?The experts have collected serum and blood samples from the affected children and water sample of the affected villages. We expect them to reach a conclusion soon.? n SNS

 

[Shiloh]

Re: "Mystery fever" in West Bengal

Source: http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=10&theme=&usrsess=1&id=212380

?Chikungunya?, the reason behind mysterious child deaths

Statesman News Service
RAIGANJ, July 8: Experts from the School of Tropical Medicine in Kolkata have found chikungunya anti-body in the blood samples collected from four of the 17 children who died recently in the Karandighi block of North Dinajpur district recently. The experts have also detected encephalitis anti-body in the blood sample of a family member of one of the victims.
Seventeen children succumbed to the unknown disease at Choto Burihan, Bado Burihan, Rasakhoa, Gopalpur, Gayeshpur and Rudel villages in Karandighi block last month and now the experts suspect the disease either as chikungunya or encephalitis.
The development has triggered panic among the residents and they are all looking towards the health department for relief.
According to the health department officials, following the spread of the mysterious disease and successive child deaths last month, experts from the School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata, National Institute of Virology Department, Pune and National Institute of Communicable Diseases, New Delhi visited the affected areas and collected blood samples and serum from the affected children along with water sample of the area.
According to district Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr Dipak Kumar Bhowmick, the experts from the School of Tropical Medicine in Kolkata has not confirmed the disease as either chikungunya or encephalitis. ?The experts have suspected these diseases after antibodies were detected in the samples collected from the family members of some of the victims,? he said.
?Specialists of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases in New Delhi recently collected samples of the affected children along with water samples but have not been able to come to any conclusion about the origin of the disease."
The doctors, however,said that treatment of the victims could not be initiated since the origin of the disease remains unknown.

 

[Giuseppe]

Re: "Mystery fever" in West Bengal

Children's Deaths Linked to Poultry?

BANGLADESH -

Two children have died in the last week in Khulna district in the south-west of the country, and 44 children are now receiving treatment.

The two victims were named by the authorities as as six-year-old Faisal Kabir, son of Israil Sheikh, and eight-year-old Masuma, daughter of Junmun Sheikh of Nikaripara village, according to Recombinomics.

The village is located in Barakpur union in Digholia upazila (sub-district) of Khulna district, which is in south-western Bangladesh.

Faisal died on 29 June and Masuma on 2 July.

Both children were undergoing treatment at Khulna Medical College Hospital.

Digholia Upazila Health Officer Ataur Rahman explained that the disease is suspected as 'viral encephalitis' and it has created panic among the local people.

She said that people of the affected area had been advised not to eat any kind of meat, especially fowl.

According to the Recombinomics report, the advice to avoid eating poultry raises the concern that the cause of the deaths and illness could be the avian flu virus, H5N1.
-
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/poultrynews/15357/childrens-deaths-linked-to-poultry
-------

 

[Shiloh]

Re: "Mystery fever" in West Bengal

Here is the original posting of the Khulna Bangladesh story on FT:
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=73469&highlight=khulna