Saturday, September 3 2005 16:45 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Siliguri: With parts of West Bengal in the grip of dengue, an undiagnosed fever has claimed 12 lives in Malda district in the past one week and has in its grip Uttar and Dakshin Dinajpur and Cooch Behar.

Malda District Magistrate Abhijit Chowdhury told newsmen today (Sept 3, 2005) that twelve persons had died of the fever in the past one week. He claimed that it was viral fever.

He said that he had asked the Health Department to send at least four more doctors as there had been an increase in admissions of patients with fever.

Health department sources in Malda, however, put the toll at 14.

It could not be confirmed if the outbreak was a case of dengue since diagnostic facilities to identify it were unavailable in the district, Deputy CMOH-I, Dr Saibal Banerjee said.

The ACMOH of Uttar Dinajpur district, Dr. M S Maity, said said that the fever was spreading in his district with more cases of hospitalisation.

District Magistrate Manish Jain, however, said that none of the cases of fever had been identified as dengue. According to official sources in the adjacent Dakshin Dinajpur district there were four fever related deaths.

In Cooch Behar too, the number of admissions to health facilities was increasing.

"We are still calling it viral fever since it has not yet been formally confirmed as dengue, ACMOH-I," Dr Amitava Barman said.

In Darjeeling disrict, the leave of all Health Department employees have been cancelled to cope with the outbreak of fever, CMOH, Darjeeling, Dr. Taraknath Chattoraj said.

Meanwhile, the Principal of the premier state-run North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, Dr Sangeeta Bhattacharjee told reporters that 108 persons with fever had been admitted in the last three days.

Dr Bhattacharjee said that an expert team with rapid detection kits would be arriving in a day or two.

Health minister, Dr. Surya Kanta Mishra would visit NBMCH on September seven to supervise arrangements to combat the fever, she said.

Dengue has already claimed 13 lives and affected 600 others in the state in the past 15 days.