Encephalitis toll rises to 105 in West Bengal

With three more people dying due to Encephalitis since Tuesday, the death toll in cases related to the mosquito-borne virus in the seven north Bengal districts rose to 105 today. "Three more deaths have been reported from the North Bengal Medical College Hospital (NBMC) since yesterday," West Bengal Health Services director Biswaranjan Satpathy told PTI. He said that since January more than 370 infected cases had been reported in the state.

"41 fresh cases were reported sinceTuesday. The number is decreasing gradually. We hope that we will be able to bring the situation under control within a week as we are taking all preventive measures," Satpathy said.

A red alert in the affected districts has already been sounded by the state government and municipalities have been asked to maintain cleanliness and undertake fogging activities regularly to control the disease.
Jalpaiguri district was the worst-hit with rural areas in Dhupguri and Moynaguri being the most affected because of the presence of a large number of piggeries from where Japanese Encephalitis spread. NBMC superintendent Amarendra Nath Sarkar said that since January, 80 persons had died of Encephalitis in the hospital, out of which 20 succumbed to Japanese Encephalitis. At present, he said, there are 42 Encephalitis cases being treated in the hospital. Blood tests for all suspected cases of Encephalitis in the five districts of north Bengal are being held in the NBMC, Sarkar said.