At least 14 people died in the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Odisha after contracting a highly contagious disease called scrub typhus.
In Odisha, five people have died, according to medical officials, and the disease has been reported since 1 September in the western part of the state - Bargarh and Sundargarh districts.
Four other people have tested positive for scrub typhus. However, they have been treated.
In Himachal Pradesh, nine people have died, and the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMC) in Shimla city (and district) has seen an influx of patients showing symptoms of the deadly infection.
A total of 295 cases of the infection have been confirmed in the district.
What Is Scrub Typhus?
Scrub typhus is spread when infected mites bite human. These infected mites are most commonly found in warm, humid areas with dense vegetation such as forests, scrubland, and grasslands.
Within two weeks of being bitten, symptoms of the disease begin to manifest. These symptoms include fever, chills, severe headache, dry cough, body aches, muscle aches, development of a dark scab-like sore at the bite site, enlarged lymph nodes, appearance of red spots or rashes on the body, red eyes, confusion, coma, gastrointestinal problems, enlargement of the liver and spleen, and even meningitis.
It becomes fatal when abnormalities occur in the heart, lungs or blood, leading to impaired heart function and circulatory failure.
There is currently no vaccine available to prevent scrub typhus.