Killer JE Virus Claims 48 Lives In Malkangiri

Bhubaneswar: Japanese Encephalitis (JE) virus on Wednesday claimed three more lives as the toll increased to 48 in Odisha’s tribal-dominated Malkangiri district.

Three children admitted at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the district headquarters hospital died on Wednesday.

While a three-year-old boy succumbed to the treatment at the district headquarters hospital (DHH) here on Tuesday at about 5.30 pm, another three-year-old boy died on the same night.

The former deceased has been identified as Manoj Madi of Durmaguda village and the latter has been identified as Arjun Padiami of Alur village both under Kurkuada block in the district.

Similarly, yet another two-year-old JE-infected boy, identified as Subham Naik got killed by the killer disease on Wednesday morning hours while undergoing treatment at the DHH here. He hailed from Durkaguda village under Mathili block.

One more boy child also died of JE while undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the DHH here soon after the death of the third one. He has been identified as Rama Madi and hailed from Urmala village of Kalimela block.

Meanwhile, the district collector served show cause notice to 22 nodal officers of the district over dereliction of duties in connection with tackling Japanese Encephalitis.