DIMAPUR, DEC 6 (MExN): It is learnt that the 9 persons from Longsa under Mokokchung district who reportedly died of a so-called “mysterious fever,” leading to alarm that the Asian Bird flu had reached Nagaland State, had actually died of other natural ailments and not of bird-flu or ‘mysterious fever’ as reported in a leading news daily in Nagaland.
Investigations have ascertained that out of the nine deaths reportedly due to a ‘mysterious fever’ only two persons died (in the hospital) of actual fever (seasonal). This was confirmed by Dr Yangerla the Civil Surgeon of Mokokchung district who said that not all the nine died of fever except two. The rest died of various ailments as established by blood test samples taken by experts from the NICD, New Delhi.
The list of the seven deaths are as follows: one died of heart failure, the next (a drug addict) overdosed, one person due to malaria, another man of old-age Tuberculosis (TB), one woman of stroke from high blood pressure while a last one died of abdominal complications.
The cause of death of one person however, could not be confirmed but was suspected to have died of infective hepatitis. It was further confirmed that only two persons of the nine deceased were from Longsa village while the rest happened to be from Mokokchung town / adjoining areas to the district at the time of the deaths.
Expressing unhappiness at the way the report was carried, Dr Yangerla said that almost every year people from the areas adjoining Mokokchung district like Longleng, Tuensang as well as villages under Wokha district like Aree and Okotso suffer from seasonal ailments like cough, influenza, fever, winter malaria and typhoid.
The people are regularly treated at the district hospital at onset of winter every year, according to the CS. “I don’t know from where the ‘mysterious fever’ report came. The CS or even the Medical Superintendent isn’t aware about it” she said while strongly reminding that the deaths occurred when the bird-flu scare was sweeping Nagaland. “The deaths have no connection with whatsoever bird-flu or any other mysterious fever. We don’t know from where the word ‘mysterious fever’ came from” she added.
Health department sources also said that the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India had sent a team of medical experts from NICD and visited Longsa village on November 23. The medical experts then collected necessary blood, mucus, urine and nasal samples. An on-the-spot verification was carried out where it was confirmed that the deaths posed no relation with bird flu or any ‘mysterious fever’. Prior to this on November 4, the CS had reportedly received information of several villagers suffering from some ailment. In this regard on November 5, the CS deployed medical technicians and officials for on-the-spot verifications where 92 blood samples were taken. One blood sample tested positive of Malaria while the others were only of common ailments. The said ailments of the villagers subsided after a few weeks, it was informed.
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