Manipur: Japanese Encephalitis Claims 5 Lives in 2019

Imphal, Sept 7, 2019:

Japanese Encephalitis (JE) has claimed  5 lives this year in Manipur, and cases have been on the rise every year in the State, since 2015.

This was confirmed by Manipur Health and Family Welfare Minister L Jayantakumar, while talking to Inside Northeast.

Of the five victims who succumbed to JE this year, three hailed from Senapati, Imphal East and Thoubal districts while the other two belonged to Kangpokpi district.

Only six cases of JE were detected in the State in 2015. The figure rose to 47 in 2016, 195 in 2017 and then it went down to 85 in 2018. As for the current year, 232 JE cases have been detected in the State till August end this year.

There was no report of casualty due to JE in 2015 but there were 11 deaths each in 2016 and 2017. Three victims succumbed to JE in 2018 and five people have already died due to JE this year, the minister said.

In reply to a question of how effective is the drug Belladonna 200 which is being distributed by the Government to protect people from JE, Jayantakumar stated that Rapid Response Teams led by CMOs were constituted as JE cases grew.

As emergency measures, RRTs carried out fogging within 1 Km radius of the place where JE case was detected, and chemicals were applied to prevent mosquitoes from laying eggs. Moreover, bed-nets were treated with chemicals at community level.

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