Odisha is struggling to tackle its health crisis. In the last one month, the bloody onslaught of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) has claimed over 48 lives, all children, in its Malkangiri district.

However, with death of a two-year-old girl at district headquarters hospital on Friday, local media reports put the toll owing to the vector-borne disease at 52.

The deadly disease, which originates from pigs and spreads to humans, mostly children, through mosquitoes, surfaced in the district around 35 days ago, officials said. It has spread in 45 villages spread across six blocks of the Naxal-affected district.

Unfortunately, there is no treatment for JE. “We only treat symptoms like fever, pain, lethargy, severe exhaustion and loss of appetite. For kids below eight-year, it is very difficult to battle the virus due to their feeble immunity level,” said Malkangiri chief district medical officer Uday Shankar Mishra.

According to the directives of the central government, the process of identification of disease-hit areas will start from next month. However, the first phase of vaccination drive in Malkangiri, Mayurbhanjj and Jajpur districts will be launched from December, said the health secretary Arti Ahuja.

Malkangiri is one of the backward districts of the country. The administration has already distributed around 8,000 mosquito nets. It has also decided to provide free cooked food to pregnant women and children in the disease-hit Kalimela and Korkonda blocks of the district.