Amid a surge in cases of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in Assam, as many as eight fresh cases were reported in the state on Saturday.

The total cases of JE since July now stand at 82 in the state, data from the national health mission (NHM) in Assam showed.

Of the eight new cases, three were reported from Barpeta district, two from Dibrugarh and one each from Kamrup Metropolitan, Nagaon and Sivasagar districts.

Meanwhile, one person died of the disease today. The death was reported from Dibrugargh. With this, the cumulative death toll due to the virus stands at eight.

According a release from NHM, a video conference with all districts on the current Acute encephalitis syndrome (AES)/JE situation was chaired by Principal Secretary - Health, Shri Avinash Joshi IAS, in the presence of Dr. M S Lakshmi Priya, IAS, Mission Director, NHM Assam, Shri. Kamaljit Talukdar, ACS, DHS (FW), Dr. Manoj Kr. Choudhury, Executive Director, NHM Assam and other State Health officials, today at NHM Assam HQ.

In this regard all districts were directed to form a District Rapid Response Team on AES/JE, by 11th to 16th July, 2022 under the guidance of their respective Deputy Commissioners. The SoP/guidelines communicated by MD, NHM Assam was to be followed by all the districts for AES/JE case detection, management and referral.

Districts are to have a control room phone number for AES/JE cases and this should be shared with public for any emergency situations and to ramp up awareness activities at the ground level. Districts are also directed to timely verify and share the data with the State HQ. All districts ADC - Health are tasked to monitor the situation closely and to work as a team to tackle the current situation on AES/JE.