JE, West Nile Fever reported in Thrissur

Thrissur: Health authorities have launched preventive and surveillance measures following reports of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and West Nile Fever in some parts of the district.

According to district medical officer (DMO) Dr K J Reena, two cases of patients being infected with both the diseases have been reported in the district in the past two weeks. The two patients, from Cheroor and Vallachira, are currently undergoing treatment in nearby hospitals. There was a Japanese Encephalitis case reported from Vadakkekkad about one-and-a-half month ago. The victim, a migrant worker from Tamil Nadu, had died in his home village. But it is unlikely that that he had contracted the disease from Vadakkekkad, the DMO said.

In yet another case of Japanese Encephalitis reported from Vadakkekkad a couple of days ago, the patient was from another district and had provided his relative’s address in Vadakkekakd in the hospital records, she said.

The DMO said that the destruction of Culex mosquitoes and their larvae would be the main focus of the containment strategy. The chances of these diseases surfacing are high in the post-flood period, because the vectors multiply very fast in the water sources polluted with various forms of waste. Pigs and wild birds are considered as reservoirs of the disease-causing virus and mosquitoes get the virus from these animals. Both these diseases are generally not dangerous and can be cured with the usual symptomatic treatments. But Japanese Encephalitis can be fatal among children in some cases, Dr Reena said. tnn