305 encephalitis deaths in Assam; CM Tarun Gogoi asks Health department to take measures

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Wednesday directed the Health department to take all possible measures to check the spread of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanese Encephalitis (JE), which have jointly claimed 305 lives in Assam this year.

The Chief Minister directed the Health Minister, Chief Secretary and Health department officials to take all necessary measures for speedy control of Encephalitis and provide necessary medical treatment to the people affected with vector-borne disease, officials said.
Gogoi also directed Principal Health Secretary to provide medicines and vaccinations against the disease and procure the necessary amount of medicines from outside the state.

The vector-borne AES has claimed 212 lives while Japanese Encephalitis 93 in Assam this year, a senior Health Department official said.

The total number of people suffering from AES was 1,286, including 488 by JE, Joint Director Health Services-Malaria Dr BK Barua told PTI. After the doubtful patients tested positive through the Elisa Test, they were declared as AES affected, he said.

Meanwhile, fogging was on in the vulnerable areas of the 24 of the 27 districts of the state affected by the killer disease, health department officials said.

The worst hit districts in Lower Assam were Sonitpur, Barpeta, Nalbari, Darrang, Kamrup (Rural) and Kamrup (Metro), while in the Upper Assam Tinsukia, North Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Dhemaji and Golaghat, they said.