According to government statistics, the lack of vaccination coverage in areas vulnerable to Japanese Encephalitis (JE) has put people′s lives at risk. Only four of the 67 people who died in Assam in the past 40 days were immunized.

Manoj Choudhury, executive director of the Assam National Health Mission, said that among the 67 people who died due to JE, 4 were vaccinated, 49 were unvaccinated, while the vaccination status of the remaining 14 deaths was unclear. According to him, the JE situation in Assam has completely changed. The need of the hour is to immunize everyone in all the regions where JE cases have been detected.

Increasing cases of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in Upper Assam′s Jorhat and Golaghat, along with central Assam′s Nagaon district, are causing more concern. According to health department experts, risks were more in pig-rearing sites close to rice fields, where wild birds and pigs can spread viruses. This year, Jorhat reported up to 10 JE deaths, with 40 confirmed JE cases. 36 JE positive cases have been detected in the neighbouring district of Golaghat owing to the large-scale pig-rearing, though the death rate is low. 11 fatalities and 47 positive cases have been reported in Nagaon.

This season, Assam reported 355 total JE cases with one fatality being reported in the Sonitpur district, on Tuesday. A sharp decline in the number of new cases of JE is seen, with only four new cases being reported on Tuesday.  (Times of India, Aug 10, 2022)