UP killer brain fever toll 764

Six more people, mostly children, on Monday succumbed to Japanese encephalitis raging in eastern Uttar Pradesh pushing the death count since the outbreak of the killer disease this summer to 764.

Thirty-six fresh cases of the brain-infecting illness have been reported, Additional Director, Health C B M Tripathi said adding that intensive fogging was on in affected areas to check spread of the disease.

Gorakhpur is the worst hit accounting for 165 deaths followed by Khushinagar (155) and Maharganj (129).

The fatalities this year are the highest in the past decade. The disease, caused by Arbo virus that is abundant in paddy fields, has claimed 1078 lives in 1978.