There are no ‘mystery diseases’, only healthcare gaps and delayed prognosis

Seventeen people in Kachchh, who developed fever and respiratory distress towards the end of August 2024, died in quick succession between September 3 and 9, prompting authorities to rush teams to the affected area – villages Bekhada, Sanhrovand, Medhivandh and Morgar in Lakhpat taluka, and Bharavandh and Valavari in Abdasa taluka.

“Door-to-door visits to every household helped to identify others who were sick, and they were all started on symptomatic treatment,” Jayesh Katira, deputy director, epidemic in Gujarat’s health department, told IndiaSpend.

But the authorities struggled to name the disease, prompting the media to report the outbreak as a “mystery” disease (see here and here).

“When the causative organism or agent of a disease, and its mode of transmission from one person to another hasn’t been identified, lay people and the media tend to label it ‘mysterious’,” said Anil Kumar, principal advisor, National Centre for Disease Control, and president, Indian Association of Epidemiologists.

Back in Kachchh, samples drawn from the patients were sent for testing to the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

“When we face an unknown disease, we test for diseases that have recently been seen in different parts of the country as well as for seasonal diseases that may have just emerged,” Katira explained.

Tests for the Nipah virus, the...

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