Guwahati, June 29 (IBNS): At least three people have died of Japanese Encephalitis in Assam in the past couple of weeks, said health officials on Friday.
One person died in Upper Assam's Sivsagar district while two others succumbed to the disease in Guwahati.
Joint Director of Health Services (Kamrup Metro) Bhola Koch said six people tested positive with the disease in Guwahati itself.
Two people, out of the six, died of the disease, while four people are currently undergoing treatment at the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH).
He said the private and the government hospitals have been directed to report about people detected with Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) to Guwahati Medical College and Hospital within 24 hours of detection.
The disease had affected 15 districts of the east Indian state in 2011 that killed more than 150 people.
According to World Health Organization (WHO), Japanese encephalitis is a viral disease that infects animals and humans. It is transmitted by mosquitoes and in humans causes inflammation of the membranes around the brain.
Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a disease caused by a flavivirus that affects the membranes around the brain.
Most JE virus infections are mild (fever and headache) or without apparent symptoms, but approximately 1 in 200 infections results in severe disease characterized by rapid onset of high fever, headache, neck stiffness, disorientation, coma, seizures, spastic paralysis and death.
