Four die of ‘mysterious’ disease in Dir

CHAKDARA: Four patients suffering from mysterious disease died and dozens of them were affected in Adenzai tehsil of Lower Dir district, sources said on Tuesday.
The source said that a mysterious disease erupted in a far-flung Barmakay village in Khanpur Union Council in which four persons, including two women, were killed and dozens of them were affected.
Three persons indentified as Bakhti Rawan, Sajida Bibi and wife of Sabir Shah and a minor were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital in Batkhela wherefrom they were shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital where they expired.
Dozens of other patients including Hadia Bibi, Gul Rehman, wife of Munasib Khan, wife of Umar Rehman, wife of Riaz, Naheed Bibi, Farida Bibi and Abdullah were shifted to the hospitals in Chakdarra, Batkhela and Peshawar where condition of some of them was stated to be critical. It was learnt that seven persons had died of the same kind of disease in the same village three years ago.
When contacted, District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Muhammad Rahman Shaheen first expressed his ignorance but later said that it was malaria. “I have directed the malaria staff to conduct fumigation in the affected area,” he added.