High-level team dispatched to India's northern state to assess dengue situation

NEW DELHI, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Indian government has dispatched a high-level team to the northern Uttar Pradesh state to collaborate with local health authorities for assessing the dengue fever situation, an official statement said on Friday.

The team will assist the state authorities in managing dengue control in the state's three districts of Firozabad, Agra and Etawah, which have witnessed a rise in dengue cases over the past few weeks.

The six-member team of the Health Ministry comprises experts from the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), the National Center for Vector Borne Diseases Control, and the Dr. RML Hospital in New Delhi.

"Headed by Dr. V.K. Chaudhary, the team will work closely with the state's health departments, take stock of on-ground situation and recommend necessary public health interventions to manage the increasing cases of dengue being reported by the state," said a statement issued by the Health Ministry.

Earlier this month as many as six people died of "mysterious high-fever" in Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad district, but the local health authorities had ruled out the possibility of the deaths due to dengue.

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease. In severe cases, it can cause joint pain, nausea, vomiting, rashes, breathing problems, hemorrhaging and organ failure.