Seven children have died of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) since Wednesday taking the death toll in the viral disease in the district to 17 this year.
Five children succumbed to AES at Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) and two others in privately-run Kejriwal hospital, Civil Surgeon Gyan Prakash said.
Another 20 children suffering from the disease are being treated in the two hospitals, he said, adding, the condition of seven of them was critical.
Five of them are being treated at SKMCH and two in Kejriwal hospital.
Meanwhile, a team from National Centre for Disease Control headed by its Joint Director Somnath Karmakar visited Muzaffarpur town to find out the cause for the outbreak of AES so that remedial measures could be taken up to contain the disease.
A doctors' team was investigating samples taken from the bodies of the dead children to identify the viruses, Prakash said.
