Japanese Encephalitis: Three more die in Assam, seven cases detected in Arunachal

Guwahati, July 12 (PTI): With the death of three more patients, the Japanese Encephalitis in Assam rose to 71, a National Health Mission (NHM) bulletin said here on Friday. The number of registered positive JE cases also increased to 334 from 306 on Thursday. Of the three fresh deaths reported, two were from Dibrugarh and one from Goalpara district, said the NHM bulletin. Giving the cumulative figures for JE/AES (Acute Encephalitis Syndrome), the bulletin said there were 165 deaths and 1,280 cases reported since January. Measures to control the mosquito borne disease that affects the brain continued to be taken across the state which is currently undergoing a transmission season for Japanese Encephalitis, NHM sources said. Treatment and diagnostic cost for JE/AES is being borne by the government at state run hospitals where certain number of beds in all the ICUs and wards were reserved for such patients. As many as seven cases of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) have been detected in Arunachal Pradesh, health department sources said on Friday. The department has launched a statewide drive for early detection and cure of Japanese Encephalitis, in the wake of the rising cases of the mosquito-borne disease in neighbouring Assam, they said. "While five cases were detected on Thursday in East Siang district alone, one patient each from Upper Subansiri and Papum Pare district have also tested positive for the viral disease," epidemiologist Lobsang Jampa said. Of the five cases in Pasighat, the headquarters of East Siang district, one is a 15-year-old girl. In Naharlagun area of Papum Pare, a two-and-half-year-old girl has been admitted at Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS), Jampa said. The numbers may rise as reports from vulnerable districts like Tirap, Changlang, Longding, Namsai and Lohit have not arrived yet, the epidemiologist said.