317 people test positive for ''Chicken Guinea'' in Mah

Nagpur, June 23 (UNI) Three hundred and seventeen people have been found to be suffering from ''Chicken Guinea'' fever, a disease spread by mosquitoes, in the State.

Patients suffering from the disease exhibit symptoms like like high fever which is curable within three or four days.

Disclosing this Assistant Deputy Director of Public Helath (Pune) Dr D S Dakhure told UNI that the suspected Chicken Guinea disease has spread in 1,338 villages in 33 districts in the State.

He further added, ''The blood samples of the patients were sent to National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, where 317 samples tested positive for Chicken Guinea, while some others tested positive for different viral diseases like dengue fever and the like.'' The samples found positive for Chicken Guinea were from Raigad, Nashik, Ahmednagar, Solapur, Kolhapur, Yavatmal, Nagpur and Wardha districts.

He claimed that preventive measures were being taken on a war footing.

Cleanliness is the major preventive measure, Dr Dakhure said. He added, ''Mosquitoes breed in stagnant waters and are carriers of this disease, hence all precautionery measures have been taken to initiate cleanliness drive like spraying of medicines and spreading awareness among the villagers.

He, however, reiterated that the disease has nothing to do with Chicken or bird flu.

No deaths have been reported from the district so far.

UNI NNG KU MIR KN1854