Mystery disease kills several children

A mystery disease, previously suspected to be encephalitis but since ruled out, has killed several children in India's eastern Bihar state, officials said. The outbreak, now about 3 weeks old, has gripped the state's Muzaffarpur district where a death was reported Tuesday, bringing the toll to at least 46 children, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. While scientists, testing blood samples at the National Institute of Virology in Pune in India's Western state of Maharashtra, ruled out encephalitis, local health authorities have yet to diagnose the disease. Earlier reports had said the victims have been mostly children less than 10 years of age. Health authorities said Methylene and DDT were being sprayed on a large-scale in the 63 affected villages. "At present, we are just resorting to symptomatic treatment," one pediatrician said. The Times of India, which put the death toll at more than 50 children, reported even the exact nature of the virus had not yet been determined.