LUCKNOW, Nov 30: At least 50 children in Uttar Pradesh have died of a mysterious fever in the past month, an official said on Saturday.

Media reports said the death toll was close to 100.

The health official in the state of Uttar Pradesh could not identify the disease which caused the 50 deaths.

According to local doctors, the disease is a mutated form of Japanese encephalitis, a deadly virus which is spread by mosquitoes.

The symptoms include high fever, tiredness, headache, nausea, and vomiting.

Abhijit Sen, a doctor in Lucknow said pigs were the carriers of the virus causing encephalitis.

Unhygenic living conditions in villages in the districts of Saharanpur, Meerut, Baghpat and Muzzafarnagar allowed the virus to thrive, Sen said.

Children were more susceptible to the disease as their immune system was weak, he said.—AFP