It's turn of vector-borne diseases now!

BY OUR STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Aug 8: With the flood situation in the State improving in the last couple of days, the big challenge for the authorities now is to prevent the outbreak of diseases.

Vector-borne diseases - dengue, Japanese encephalitis, Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) - have claimed as many as 163 people this year till August 7.

Of the 163 cases of death, 74 deaths have been confirmed due to Japanese encephalitis, state Health Department sources said.

Malaria has killed three people in the state.

Nine people have died of Cholera and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) this year till August 7.

Sources pointed out as many as 1,379 cases of AES have been detected of which 74 cases have been confirmed as JE and 215 cases as dengue.  

Sources further said that these are conservative statistics and the cases are likely to increase.

The highest number of dengue cases has been detected in Kamrup (M) district in the state.  A total of 180 dengue cases have been confirmed in the district.   

Similarly, Sivasagar district tops the list in JE death with nine cases, while with 19 death cases Dibrugarh district has been identified as the highest AES-infected district. With the death of 12 people each in Sivasagar and Tinsukia districts due to AES, both the districts have been identified as second highest AES-affected districts.