India is looking for help from the US to identify the causes of the recent outbreak of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES), which have taken several lives over the past few months.

The Minister of Health, Harsh Vardhan, told the Lok Sabha on Monday that Atlanta-based Centre for Disease Control is investigating the cause of the outbreak along with the National Centre for Disease Control and Indian Council for Medical Research.

The investigations have ruled out the presence of several strains of virus of the diseases, AES and JE, which have together taken at least 800 lives this year.

“Further investigation of the samples for identification of toxins and other factors which could cause encephalopathy is being undertaken at CDC,” Vardhan said, adding that he had requested the US-based organisation to prioritise this investigation.

These vector-borne diseases are being countered in 60 high-priority districts of Assam, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, which account for about 85 per cent of the disease burden in the country. Vaccination against JE has been completed in 57 of these districts, while the other three would be covered during this year, Vardhan said. He said the Ministry had released funds for setting up paediatric ICUs in 30 districts, while funds for the remaining 30 districts will be released soon.

He informed the Lower House that in 2014-15, ₹48.75 crore has been allocated for JE and AES-related activities.

The Ministry had recently announced the introduction of JE vaccines for adults in the Universal Immunisation Programme, since recently the disease has also started manifesting among adults in the regions showing high burden of the disease.

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