“Mystery Fever Identified as Japanese Encephalitis”

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Of 55 samples taken from victims of a mysterious fever that is spreading through Andhra Pradesh in India, three of the samples tested positive for Japanese encephalitis--a number high enough to convince health officials that the patients are indeed infected with the illness. In Andhra Pradesh, 102 people have died, while in Maharashtra, 43 children have died in four districts in a similar pattern, with health experts there also concluding that the fever is the result of Japanese encephalitis. There is a vaccine that prevents the illness, but it is not effective in reducing the spread of Japanese encephalitis during an outbreak; rather, authorities are now spraying insecticide to kill the mosquitoes that can spread the disease.

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