A mystery fever has affected more than 26,000 people in Bhojpur area of Moradabad.

Taking cognizance of the matter, the health department had sent a team of experts to the affected area to take stock of the situation. The team, headed by director communicable diseases and epidemic control, Dr MK Gupta, submitted a status report to the health department on Thursday. The team also took the blood samples of some patients and sent them to the National Center for Disease Control lab in Delhi for analysis.

Dr MK Gupta has attributed the mystery fever to high pathogen burden in Bhojpur. Pathogens are disease causing micro organisms, such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses, commonly found in sewage, rotting household waste, run-off water from farms and open drains. "The main source of pathogens in Bhojpur are illegal slaughter houses which feed the big ones in the main city. A visit to the affected area explains why people are taking ill," he said.

He added that almost every second household in the affected ghetto is into scrap dealing of e-waste. This means that there is no dearth of spots for rainwater to collect and facilitate the breeding of mosquitoes. Since Moradabad is an industrial area the general suspended particulate matter volume in the air is high. This makes the heat index or the levels of humidity and heat of the place high, said the expert.

The levels appeared to be higher in this pocket inhabited by scrap dealers and slaughterers. Most of the scrap dealers unwind the discarded electronic products to extract metals such as lead, aluminum and copper to sell it in the market. In the process of extraction, they tend to add to the atmospheric pollutants. The pollution adds to the primary problem of sanitation, particularly overflowing drains and sewage water.

Citing the above reasons, the expert team has stated that cumulatively the factors accelerated the prevalence of seasonal flu and viral fever. "The atmosphere in Bhojpur increased the virility of the pathogens significantly which led to such a high incidence of the viral fever," the team said.

The health team also reviewed the arrangements to attend the huge chunk of patients. The officials stated that while most patients were resting at home, additional beds were provided at all the health facilities in and around Bhojpur, including the police hospital in Moradabad. The stock of medicines is also in place.

The team has refuted reports that two deaths were related to the mystery fever in Bhojpur. "While one of the patients was suffering with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the baby was extremely malnourished," Dr Gupta said.

The team has sent 15 blood samples to NCDC where microbiologists will isolate the specific virus behind the problem. However, health officials are not excited about finding the cause of disease unless it comes out to be some bacteria. "X,Y, Z - whatever the virus be, the plan of action will not change," said a team member.

Moradabad has been gripped by pathogens many times. In 2010, seven children had died and over 35 taken seriously ill. Later, influenza B virus was found to be the cause of the illness. Similar episodes can be recounted including the one in 1836. It was called 'Moradabad fever', which also spread to other western UP districts like Agra and Saharanpur.

Meanwhile, state Rashtriya Lok Dal president Munna Singh Chauhan has blamed the state government for not being able to contain the fever in Moradadbad when it was in the budding stage. "UP government has also failed to check encephalitis in eastern districts and I fear a similar fate for the problem in Moradabad as well," he said.