Kamrup (rural) and Jorhat in Upper Assam are the worst-affected districts (Representational)
At a time when Assam is witnessing a major COVID-19 spike, a Japanese Encephalitis outbreak has also been reported from different parts of the state raising concerns.
With about 14 per cent mortality rate, about 60 times higher than Assam's COVID-19 mortality rate, Japanese Encephalitis has claimed 29 lives already this year.
The vector bourne-disease spread by Culex mosquitos, this year, has affected at least 199 people in 29 out of 33 districts in the state, a bulletin from National Health Mission (NHM), Assam, said on Sunday.
In Assam now only Dina Hasao, Udalguri and Karbi Anglong districts have not reported a Japanese Encephalitis cases, rest 29 have.
Kamrup (rural) adjoining Guwahati and Jorhat in Upper Assam are the worst-affected districts, the official sources further added.
The global pandemic COVID-19 has affected over 32 thousand killing 79 persons in the state so far.
Japanese Encephalitis has been a perennial problem in the Northeast that affects the states during annual floods.
In 2013, 134 people of the illness, 165 died in 2014; 135 in 2015; 92 in 2016; 87 in 2017, 94 in 2018 and nearly 150 in 2019.
In Assam, every year 30% of the infected patients lose their lives, sources further added.