From correspondents in Uttar Pradesh, India, 11:00 PM IST

After an unknown disease claimed 140 lives in four weeks in Kanpur Dehat district, Uttar Pradesh health authorities now face the challenge of another mysterious malady that has claimed 28 lives in the Rampur district.

According to official records, in the last 30 days about 28 people have died of the unknown disease in Rampur district, over 200 km from here.

'Majority of the deaths took place at private hospitals,' Rampur chief medical officer Vinod Kumar told IANS.

'The disease is marked with high fever and its symptoms resemble those of malaria,' he added.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)