7 persons test positive for Japanese Encephalitis in Meghalaya

Seven persons have tested positive for Japanese Encephalitis in Meghalaya, a Health department official said today.
"Seven persons tested positive in four districts and we are closely monitoring patients with complaints of similar symptoms of Japanese Encephalitis," Joint Director of Health Services Dr B Mawlong told PTI.
The health official, however, assured that the disease is under control in Meghalaya.
Among those tested positive, three were from Ri-Bhoi district's Nongpoh, Mawhati and Umtham villages, two in East Khasi Hills district in Mawlai and Sohiong villages and one each in West Khasi Hills district (Nongkhlaw) and Jaintia Hills district (Ummulong), she said.

Six patients were admitted at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGHRIHMS) and one person is availing treatment at the Shillong Civil Hospital, she said.
Dr Mawlong who also heads the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme in the state informed that four test kits for JE have been procured from the Pune-based National Institute of Virology.

Two of these kits are kept in the state capital and another two at Tura, the headquarters of Garo Hills Division and each has the capacity of testing 96 samples, the official said.
While there is no medical remedy for JE since it is a viral disease but when patients get themselves admitted in hospitals for early treatment for symptomatic treatments, lives could be saved, she said.

Pigs and wild migratory birds are the main carriers of the virus and the dead end are human and horses, the health expert said, adding that deaths could take place if symptomatic treatment is delayed.