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AP brain fever death toll rises to 149

Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad

With the death toll due to Japanese encephalitis (brain fever) shooting up to 149 on Wednesday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has asked the collectors of the affected districts to "swing into action on a war-footing" to check the spread of the epidemic.

The chief minister reviewed the serious situation in several districts, particularly Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore, Nalgonda, Karimnagar and Warangal, in a video conference with the district collectors. So far this year, 742 cases of Japanese encephalitis have been reported in the state as on Wednesday.

Naidu spoke to the district collectors and medical and health officers and other officials. He asked them to take up measures to ensure that "the epidemic is eradicated completely without further delay".

The chief minister said he would start his district tours from today and personally inspect the steps being taken in various districts to contain the spread of the disease. Since pigs are said to be the reservoirs for the virus that causes the disease, he told the collectors to rehabilitate the pig-rearers and owners of the piggery units in other occupations.

Naidu wanted the collectors to coordinate with all officials concerned and medical authorities on a day-to-day basis to take preventive and curative measures. He asked the collectors to make the village executive officers responsible for the distribution of Belladona -- the homeo medicine which is effective for the prevention of the disease.

He also wanted the authorities to give wide publicity on the preventive measures through newspapers, advertisements, television channels, cinema slides and distribution of pamphlets, etc.

He said as on Wednesday, 742 cases have been reported with 149 deaths. While most of the cases have been reported from Kurnool, Anantapur, Prakasam and Warangal districts, a few cases have also been reported from Guntur and Cuddapah.

The district collectors of Prakasam, Anantapur, Kurnool, Nellore, Chittoor, Cuddapah, Guntur, West Godavari, Warangal, Nalgonda, who participated in the online video conference, explained to the chief minister about the various steps taken by them like rehabilitating piggery units, driving away of stray pigs, distribution of Belladona tablets, cleaning of drains and surroundings, fogging and spraying operations.

The chief minister took the collectors to task and wondered as to why, in spite of the steps taken by them, fresh cases are being reported. He wanted them to take immediate steps to contain the spread of the disease.

After the video conference, answering questions from the media, the chief minister said that he would initiate all steps to see that Japanese encephalitis is completely eradicated. The government, he said, would prepare a master plan for underground drainage in all municipalities and towns.

Meanwhile, in a health bulletin issued on Wednesday night, Director of Health K S V Prasada Rao said that 21 fresh cases of Japanese encephalitis were reported on Wednesday, taking the tally of cases to 742 so far this year. Four children succumbed to the disease on Wednesday, pushing up the toll to 149 this year.

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