GUWAHATI: Five people have died of Japanese Encephalitis in the past fortnight in Jorhat and Kamrup (Metro) districts of Assam, official sources said.
“Four people died of Japanese Encephalitis in Jorhat district. The deaths occurred at Baghchung, Solmara, Nakachari and Titabor areas,” Jorhat Deputy Commissioner (District Magistrate) Roshni Aparanji Korati said.Nine others were undergoing treatment in hospitals, she added.
The fifth death was reported from Guwahati in which a man suffering from the disease admitted to a private hospital eight days ago died on Friday. The deceased, Sulobh Bora, was a resident of the city.
Health officials in Jorhat said they had started sprinkling insecticides in the affected areas for checking the spread of the infection.
Medicines and mosquito nets were also being distributed among the people there.
According to reports, several others patients were undergoing treatment in Cachar, Darrang, Dhemaji, Bongaigaon, Lakhimpur, Morigaon, Dibrugarh, Kamrup (Rural), Kamrup (Metro) Karimganj, Nalbari, Sivasagar and Tinsukia districts.
The government is working on a long term plan to deal with the Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) which has left over 100 children dead in Bihar, Junior Health Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey said on Friday.
The MoS Health and Family Welfare informed that it was committed to extend benefits of Ayushmaan Bharat scheme to children down with AES.