With the death of one more child, the death toll due to Japanese Encephalitis (JE) mounted to 118 in Malkangiri district on Tuesday.
Two-year-old Kasi Madkami of Korakonda succumbed to the vector-borne disease while undergoing treatment at the Malkangiri District Headquarters Hospital. Three more kids are also currently in the ICU of the hospital in critical conditions while around 15 others are being treated in the general ward.
All preventive efforts of the district administration and the State Government seem to have little impact as the toll continues to rise by the day.
Meanwhile, the survey of children of six months to 15 years was completed on Tuesday. The survey was carried out for vaccination to check the outbreak of the killer virus.
In another development, the district administration has started raiding the dal godowns after the expert panel revealed that many children have died due to Encephalopathy which is mostly caused due to consumption of seeds of ‘Bana Chakunda’ (Cassia Occidentalis) seeds.
A team of officials from the district administration and the Civil Supplies Department headed by the Malkangiri Sub-Collector is raiding the dal outlets and godowns and collecting samples.