High fever has claimed over 50 lives in last fortnight in the Rohilkhand area of Uttar Pradesh, striking fear among the residents of Bareilly, Budaun and Shahajahanpur districts who have started fleeing the area as administration is grappling to bring the situation under control.

The NGOs who are working in this area however put the toll to over 150. Health Minister Sidharthnath Singh said on Septemer 13 that the high fever has been identified as malaria and viral fever. We have sent malaria identification kits to the villages. Fogging is being carried out in identified villages to kill mosquitoes. Doctors have been asked to stay put on villages and treat patients there, he said.

In some cases the fever is due to viral infection, which is common during monsoon. "This year the situation has aggravated because of heavy rains Uttar Pradesh has received. The stagnant water is the breeding ground for mosquitoes and this has led to this outbreak," he said. The minister who visited the most affected district of Bareilly to get first hand information on September 11 last said there was a lack of coordination among health officials that allowed situation to go out of hand.

The minister has suspended District Malaria Officer of Bareilly for dereliction of duty. Chief Medical Officer Bareilly Dr Vineet Shukla said that patients suffering from high fever and bouts of shivering are coming on regular basis in the district hospital. “We do not have enough beds to keep them. Still we are managing anyhow,” he said. Dr Shukla claimed that over 1500 patients, of all age, suffering from the symptoms of high fever have been admitted to the hospital since August 30. ''We are getting over 100 cases every day from nearby areas as this disease is spreading fast in the rural areas,'' he said.

Director General Medical and Health Dr Padmakar Singh said that around 50 people have died of high fever in the Rohilkhand area in last 15 days. Camps are being organized at villages and malaria kits are being supplied. However, NGOs working in that area claims that toll is over 150. Mehtab Alam of Raza Hussain Memorial charitable society said that local inputs suggest that over 150 deaths have taken place in last fortnight or so.

The Government is talking only about people who died in district hospital. What’s about those who died in private hospital or died in villages in want of medical help. There are many houses where three to four family members have died within a week’s time, he said.

He is not off the mark. Ram Avtar, resident of village Badi Nagla in Bareilly, lost her daughter 19, of high fever on September 5. Two days later his son Sonu died and Tuesday his another daughter Renu , 17, fainted and died in hospital.

"You can find patients in every village. Not only that every house are 2-3 patients suffering from mild to high fever. They get initial treatment from quacks but once the condition deteriorates they are rushed to government hospitals. By that time it is too late,’ Alam said.