Pilibhit, October 27: Chief Medical Officer deployed a team of officials from the health department to collect blood samples of people after as many as four people died of fever in the past two weeks in Naugwan Pakarya town area located on the outskirts of Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit district. However, the locals claimed that as many as eight people have died since October 12.

A 15-year-old boy, Devansh Mishra of class nine, showed symptoms of acute stomach-ache and succumbed to the "mystery" fever on Wednesday after struggling for life for four days, according to the district's chief medical officer (CMO), Dr Alok Kumar. The town area has a population of over 40,000 residents, reported TOI.

The victims have been identified as Suresh Chandra Saxena (72), Khushalo Devi (40), Suresh Kumar (38) and Devansh. Rajiv Mishra, Devansh's father who works as a cab driver, said, "My son first caught fever and later showed symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea. We could not save his life despite getting medical treatment." Uttarakhand: ‘Mysterious’ Fever Causes Panic in Taali Village, Over 200 Fall Sick; Health Camp Organised

Following the deaths, the CMO inspected the area and deployed a team of officials from the health department to collect blood samples of people suffering from fever. He said, "As many as 201 blood samples were tested for dengue and 330 samples for malaria. So far, only one person has been detected positive for dengue." African Swine Fever Case Detected in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly

Meanwhile, most of the test reports came back as positive for typhoid. According to CMO, the prime reason behind this is likely the use of contaminated hand pump water for drinking by every household in the town. The residential area has over a kilometre-long filthy and polluted water body just close to it. This possibly may be the prime cause of the hand pump water's contamination.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 27, 2022 08:55 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).