Panic has gripped Dorsi and adjoining villages in the Barnoti block of Kathua district as nearly 60 per cent population of the village, including women and children, have fallen ill due to a mysterious fever during the past few days. Taking cognisance of the situation, the Health Department rushed a team of senior doctors to the village and collected 16 blood samples from patients suffering from fever. The team is also learnt to have collected water samples from open wells and bore wells and sent them for testing. Panchayat members said many villages in panchayat halqa ‘four-lane-west’, having a total population of around 6,000, had been suffering from a ‘mild but mysterious fever’ during the past few weeks. “Nearly 60 per cent population of the panchayat has been suffering from a mysterious fever. The affected people have been taking medicines, but they are not showing any effect. We have requested the Health Department to send a team of senior doctors to assess the situation,” Mehar Chand, sarpanch of the area, told reporters. Ajay Khajuria, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Kathua, said they had sent a team of doctors to Dorsi village and it had collected 16 blood samples from Dorsi and adjoining villages. “People had complained about mild fever. We have collected the blood samples and are awaiting reports. We are closely monitoring the situation,” the CMO said.