Health Minister D.L. Ravindra Reddy on Thursday said that efforts are on to identify an unspecified fever which has claimed the lives of 12 tribals in Mannem of Visakhapatnam districts and added that medical teams have already been dispatched to the region.
The Minister is set to visit Visakhapatnam on July 9 to collect a firsthand account of the illness. The district Collector informed the Minister that some 10 to 12 people have died due to the mystery fever.
"Whether it is malaria or diarrhoea is not clear," Health and Medical Education Minister D.L. Ravindra Reddy said.
He added that 20 medical teams have been dispatched from the district head quarters to the tribal area.
“As many as five doctors and staff nurses and others have been sent for enquiry,” the Minister said.
Expressing concern over the deaths, the Minister asserted that efforts would be made to update their awareness and then provide medical care to them as fast as possible.