Encephalitis toll 63, central team of doctors visits Odisha

With the death of two more children, the toll in Japanese Encephalitis outbreak on Sunday mounted to 63 in over six weeks in Odisha’s tribal-dominated Malkangiri district.

Two girls died while undergoing treatment at the district headquarters hospital here, taking the toll to 63, Chief District Medical Officer Dr U S Mishra said.

The deceased were a four-year-old girl from Korkonda block and a two-year-old from Khairput, another official said.

Unconfirmed reports, however, put the toll due to the vector-borne disease at 67, which has affected around 100 villages spread over six of the seven blocks in the district. At present, four affected children are being treated at the district headquarter hospital and two of them are in the ICU, a senior district official said.

Meanwhile, two of the six-member central team of doctors which visited the affected areas of the district to review the situation, are still camping in Malkangiri to assist health officials in tackling the disease.

The team examined the circumstances that led to spread of the disease and to suggest measures to check it.

The team members visited the district headquarters hospital here and held discussion with doctors and staff to assess the situation.

The disease, which originates from pigs and spreads to humans, mostly children, through mosquitoes, had surfaced in the district around 44 days ago.