Locals of Baliadangi upazila of Thakurgaon are panicking because, over the past 15 days, five members of a local family have died of a mysterious disease.
According to local sources: Taher Ali, 65—from Noyabari area in Vandardaha village under Dhantala union of the upazila—his wife Husne Ara, 52; his son-in-law Habibur Rahman, 29; his eldest son Yusuf Ali, 27; and his youngest son Mehedi Hasan, 25, have died of the disease over the past 15 days.
Taher and his wife died within two days of each other, while his son-in-law died a few days later.
On Sunday, Yusuf died while Mehedi was being admitted to Rangpur Medical College and Hospital. Mehedi then died while undergoing treatment there.
Masud Karim, a local and assistant teacher of Lahiri Multipurpose High School, said: “Many of the villagers, including himself, have fled the village after attending Yusuf's namaz-e-janaza.”
Selina Akhter, the head teacher of the school, said: “Students’ attendance at the school has decreased, alarmingly, because fear about the disease has spread among the villagers.”
Confirming the matter, local Union Parishad Chairman Samar Kumar Chattargee said: “Many people have already been affected by the disease and they are not recovering after being treated in Thakurgaon's hospitals.”
“The infected individuals were reportedly suffering from muscle pain and a burning sensation in their bodies. Many of the infected, including those of who died, were also seen loosing a grasp of reality and running around, naked, in public,” he added.
Baliadangi police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mosabberul Haq said: “Before dying, Taher’s youngest son, Mehedi, was sent to Rangpur Medical College and Hospital in a critical condition. Physicians there collected Mehedi’s blood sample and were able to identify that the disease is a virus that affects the brain”
Thakurgaon Civil Surgeon Dr AKM Khairul Kabir said, over the telephone, that the process to identify the disease has begun and there is nothing to worry about. Health workers are closely observing the affected areas.