Centre will make efforts to help Bihar contain encephalitis:Harsh Vardhan

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who was swarmed by reporters over Bihar's encephalitis menace outside Parliament here, on Tuesday said the Centre would make all possible efforts to help the state government contain and control the disease.

"I have shared all the details to media while I was in Muzzafarpur last week," he said. "We have promised every possible help to the state government. We are monitoring the situation hourly," he said while to speaking to media persons.

The death toll due to the acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) in Muzaffarpur rose to 108 on Tuesday.

As many as 89 children have died at Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH), Muzaffarpur, while 19 others lost their lives at Kejriwal Hospital.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had recently announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the children, who died due to AES.

Kumar has also given directions to the Health Department, district administration and doctors to take necessary measures to fight the disease.

AES is a viral disease, which causes mild flu-like symptoms such as high fever, convulsions, and headache.