Mysterious disease claims four lives in Uttar Pradesh

LUCKNOW - A mysterious disease has claimed the lives of a four-year-old girl and three women in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district, officials said Tuesday.

The deaths took place Sunday and Monday in Mankapur, a Dalit-dominated village in Gonda, some 200 km from Lucknow. The mysterious disease is marked by tremors, convulsions and vomiting.

“We still don’t know what the disease is. Even the post-mortem reports have failed to establish any specific reason behind the deaths,” Chief Medical Officer G.P. Awasthi told reporters in Gonda.

According to officials in the Gonda district administration, four-year-old Pooja became the first victim of the disease Sunday afternoon. Within 24 hours of her death, three women - Jagdamba, 35, Shrimati, 45, and Sumitra, 60, - also died.

“Convulsions, vomiting and tremors were common to all the four deaths,” said Awasthi.

The district administration has directed the heath officials to constitute teams to organise sanitation drives and set up medical check-up camps in the village.

“Medical teams headed by a doctor are camping in the village. We have already started a door-to-door campaign in the village to know the condition of the locals,” said Awasthi.