Guwahati: Japanese Encephalitis (JE) claimed three more lives in Assam in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 63 on Saturday. All three deaths were reported from central Assam’s Nagaon district, a National Health Mission, Assam, report stated.
As many as 12 fresh cases of vector-borne disease were recorded in the state during the 24-hour period. Altogether, 347 cases of JE have been detected in the state since July 1, 2022, the report stated.
While two new cases each were reported from the Dibrugarh and Kamrup Metropolitan districts, Chirang, Goalpara, Hojai, Karbi Anglong, Nagaon, Tinsukia, Udalguri and Southern Assam’s Cachar district recorded one case each, the NHM report stated.
Of the total 35 districts of the state, South Salmara and Karbi Anglong have not been affected by the disease so far.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar on Friday informed the Lok Sabha that Assam reported the highest number of JE cases in the country in 2021.
The minister said that while Assam reported a total of 218 JE cases in 2021, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh reported 180 and 153 cases, respectively.
Among the northeastern states, the minister informed that Tripura reported 25 cases of JE, while Manipur and Meghalaya reported 13 and two cases, respectively.
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