Mystery disease kills two more in Bihar

The children died after reporting high fever followed by convulsions and unconsciousness in Muzaffarpur district late Tuesday.

Locals have termed the disease as "chamki ki bimari" and said the symptoms were similar to encephalitis -- a disease that causes inflammation of the brain.

However, state Health Minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey said experts were in the process of identifying the disease and it was "not proper to term it encephalitis".

Two expert teams -- one from Pune-based National Institute of Virology and another from the union health ministry -- visited a hospital in Muzaffarpur Tuesday where dozens of children are undergoing treatment.

"Both teams along with local health officials will also visit the villages where the children have died," Gopal Shankar Shahni, a doctor at the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) in Muzaffarpur, told IANS on telephone.

Principal secretary, health, Amarjeet Sinha said the experts would collect samples of animals to identify the cause of the disease.

The teams will Wednesday visit Kejriwal Hospital in Muzaffarpur. Over three dozen children are undergoing treatment in various hospitals in Muzaffarpur, Motihari and Patna.