When there is an epidemic in a state, an expert team from the Union Health Ministry visits the region. The protocol is to go to the affected areas and examine the reasons for the outbreak. Samples are collected from infected patients and sent for testing.

On August 18, four children complained of fever in Jhalkari Nagar of Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh, and were brought to a hospital. The doctor started treatment believing it to be  a regular fever. Soon, more sick people streamed in from neighbouring areas, and some succumbed to the illness. On August 30, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath told the media that 39 people had lost their lives due to “viral fever”, out of which 32 were children. On September 1, a six-member team of the government camped in Firozabad district. And until test results from microbiologists at King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, came in, everybody called the infection that was reigning terror in the state a “mysterious fever”.