After Assam, Japanese Encephalitis crops up in Mizoram

Aizawl, Aug 19 (IANS) After Assam, where it has left 77 people dead so far, Japanese Encephalitis reached neighbouring Mizoram, where the first case of the vector-borne disease was detected in Aizawl, health officials said on Friday.Mizoram's nodal officer for Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) Pachuau Lalmalsawma said that the sample of a patient, tested at Trinity Hospital here and at the National Centre for Disease Control in Delhi, confirmed it to be Japanese Encephalitis.He that the Director of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, Delhi, has also been informed of the JE case in Mizoram.The National Health Mission, Mizoram has issued a standard operating procedure and guidelines to tackle the situation arising from the outbreak and health workers have launched a massive awareness campaign against the disease throughout the state.In Assam, at least 77 people died of Japanese Encephalitis since July 1 while 377 were infected, prompting the Health Department to undertake various measures to deal with the disease.Japanese Encephalitis and malaria kill many people in Assam every year, specifically during the monsoon season that usually starts in May and stretches to October. According to the health officials, last year, at least 40 deaths were reported due to the disease, transmitted by infected mosquitoes, mainly during the monsoon.
--IANS sc/vd

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