What is the cause of encephalitis in Bihar?

The cause of the outbreak is unclear. AES can be caused by different microorganisms including virus, bacteria, fungi, parasites and spirochetes, as well as chemicals and toxins. AES mostly affects children below 15. In India, AES was chiefly associated with Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) before 1975.

Is Bihar the largest producer of lychee in India?

Of the total production of lychee in India, 74 percent is contributed by Bihar. The second largest lychee producing state is West Bengal followed by Tripura and Assam (Table 2). Productivity is highest in Bihar followed by West Bengal.

Which city in Bihar is famous for its litchi farms?

Muzaffarpur district
45,000 litchi farmers are estimated to be in Muzaffarpur district alone, according to officials. “Litchi is grown on 46\% of cultivable land in Muzaffarpur district, which on an average produces 1.5 lakh tonne of the fruit.

Is lychee fruit poisonous?

Unripe lychees contain toxins that can cause extremely low blood sugar. But lychees are not the only produce with the potential to poison us if eaten too early or unprocessed.

How common is Japanese encephalitis in India?

Approximately 597,542,000 people in India live in JE-endemic regions, and 1,500 to 4,000 cases are reported every year.

What is AES and JE?

Introduction. Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) including Japanese Encephalitis (JE) is a group of clinically similar neurologic manifestation caused by several different viruses, bacteria, fungus, parasites, spirochetes, chemical/ toxins etc.

Which country produces the most lychees?

China is the main producer of lychees, followed by India, other countries in Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, Madagascar and South Africa.

Why is Muzaffarpur famous for litchi?

Muzaffarpur is famous for Shahi lychees and is known as the Lychee Kingdom. Shahi litchi is set to become the fourth product from Bihar, after jardalu mango, katarni rice and Magahi paan (betel leaf) to get the Geographical Indication (GI) tag….

Which country is the largest producer of litchi?

Why is lychee toxic?

Lychee seeds contain methylene cyclopropyl glycine which can cause hypoglycemia associated with outbreaks of encephalopathy in undernourished Indian and Vietnamese children who had consumed lychee fruit.

Is litchi safe to eat?

Litchis are safe. But you’re in trouble if you eat unripened litchis (the small, green ones) on an empty stomach. Unripe litchi fruit contains the toxins hypoglycin A and methylenecyclopropyl-glycine (MCPG) that may cause vomiting if had excessively.

Can litchi cause encephalitis?

A recent study has linked occurrence of neurological disease—commonly known as encephalitis—to consumption of litchi in Muzaffarpur district in Bihar.

Why is Bihar’s encephalitis outbreak so deadly?

The outbreak of encephalitis takes place every year during the summer months in Bihar, the time the fruit is cultivated, but this year’s rising death toll has been alarming. The deaths of children, almost all of them malnourished, have raised a larger question over how the fruit should be eaten and the ways in which it is harmful to the body.

Is litchi cultivation linked to AES cases in Muzaffarpur?

“Whether it is a litchi toxin or some mixed illnesses, the deaths have a strong relation with litchi cultivation,” he said. Indeed, the report provided to the government by two expert teams had helped reduce the count of AES cases in Muzaffarpur after the 2014.

Is litchi bad for your brain?

According to reports, the presence of some toxins in the litchi, a fruit native to China, is believed to have caused encephalitis — inflammation of the brain — in around 200 children, 100 of whom are critical and are undergoing treatment.