Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called an internal meeting with the senior officials of the health department on Monday evening.
The main agenda of the meeting would be to discuss the cause, effect and possible solution to the outbreak of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) which has, by now, taken at least 100 lives in Muzaffarpur.
Nitish Kumar, earlier, announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the children, who died due to AES in Muzaffarpur. He also gave directions to the health department, district administration and doctors to take necessary measures to fight the disease.
AES is a viral disease, which causes mild flu-like symptoms such as high fever, convulsions, and headaches.
Official data hovers around a number of 93-95 deaths due to Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) -- in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, located in the northern part of the state. However, unofficial deaths due the disease are said to be over 100 as some children died in villages before being admitted to hospitals.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, to this end, stressed the need for research on AES. "There should be research to identify the disease that is still not identified and for that research facility should be developed in Muzaffarpur," he said, after visiting the state-owned Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH).
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