Malegaon fever claims first victim

The first death, that of an 11-year-old boy, has occurred due to 'Malegaon-fever' in the powerloom town, about 90 km from Nashik, official sources said Monday.

Mohammed Rijwan Mohammed Ramzan, a resident of Ayesha Nagar, died at Dhule Civil Hospital Sunday evening, Bharat Wagh, medical officer of the Malegaon Municipal Corporation, told PTI.

He said the boy was admitted to Wadia Hospital on March 17 as a fever case, but suffered 'convulsion' in the afternoon.

"We got him checked by experts and the same day sent him to Dhule Civil Hospital, where he died Sunday evening. However, we have asked for the case papers to investigate the cause of death.

"We have also sent the blood samples to laboratory," he said adding, the "fever" outbreak started in Malegaon's Ramzan, Ayesha and Ayub Nagar from February 27.

He said so far "we have found 3,434 fever patients, out of them 1,326 were admitted to the three MMC hospitals and were discharged after treatment".

On Sunday, 96 patients were admitted to the hospitals for treatment, Wagh added.

Maharashtra Public Health Minister Vimal Mundada, who visited Malegaon Sunday asked people not to fear as there was no "fever epidemic" in Malegaon.