Lucknow, Sep 19: An "unknown fever" has claimed 79 lives in Uttar Pradesh in the last six weeks, a government official said Wednesday. The official added that medical teams were put on high alert and that they have been asked to check the spread of unnecessary alarm among the people. The death toll due to an "unknown fever" in the last one and a half months has risen to 79, in view of which officials have been alerted to take all necessary precautions besides creating awareness, a government spokesman said. The toll in Bareilly reached 24, followed by Badaun and Hardoi at 23 and 12 respectively, the spokesman said, adding that Sitapur accounted for eight deaths, Bahraich six, Pilibhit four and Shahjahanpur two. Death audit is being conducted in all the cases and an active surveillance has been initiated in the rural and urban areas to prevent spread of the disease, the spokesman said.

An awareness drive is also being carried out against the unnecessary alarm which is being caused by "misleading and incorrect media reports", he said.

UP Health Minister Sidharth Nath Singh, who had visited Bareilly last week, had said the government will undertake a "death audit" to find out the number of those who died due to the fever.

The state government has constituted three teams of doctors to look into the cases in Bareilly and Badaun, UP DG (health) Padmakar Singh had told reporters in Bareilly. Necessary medicines were being distributed, fogging and spraying of larvacides have been undertaken as well, he had said.