Guwahati: Japanese Encephalitis (JE) continues to pose a serious public health challenge in Assam, with five more deaths reported over the past 10 days, taking the state’s death toll to 15. The total number of laboratory-confirmed cases has also risen to 119, according to the latest health data.
Kamrup district has recorded the highest number of infections with 17 confirmed cases, followed by Morigaon with eight and Sivasagar with seven. In terms of fatalities, Kamrup district has reported four deaths, while Barpeta, Jorhat and Lakhimpur have recorded two deaths each. One death each has also been reported from Kamrup (Metro), Cachar, Bongaigaon, Dima Hasao and Tamulpur.
Public health experts attribute Assam‘s recurring JE outbreaks to its favourable ecological conditions, including extensive paddy fields, wetlands and a large pig population, which plays a crucial role in the transmission cycle of the mosquito-borne viral disease.
A 2025 research paper titled Japanese Encephalitis Crisis in Assam, India: Call for Targeted Action as Cases Surge Statewide, authored by Dr Biswa Prasun Chatterji and Sabrina Sultana Rahman and published in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (London), highlighted the state’s increasing vulnerability to the disease.
The study found that while the childhood vaccination programme launched in 2006 has significantly reduced infections among children, adults now account for the majority of JE cases in Assam.
Citing an analysis conducted during 2011-12, the researchers noted that of the 194 laboratory-confirmed JE cases recorded during the period, only 41 cases (21 per cent) involved children below the age of 15, while 153 cases (79 per cent) were reported among adults. The findings indicate that the vaccination drive successfully curtailed infections in children, but adult populations remain highly susceptible.
The study also revealed that Assam recorded 389 laboratory-confirmed JE cases and 72 deaths in 2025, accounting for nearly half of all reported JE cases in India and the majority of the country’s fatalities linked to the disease that year.
The researchers stressed the need for expanding vaccination coverage among adults, strengthening mosquito control measures, enhancing disease surveillance and improving clinical preparedness to contain future outbreaks.