Encephalitis outbreak: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar visits Muzzaffarpur hospital; toll rises to 108

Patna, June 18: After 17 days of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) outbreak in Bihar's Muzaffarpur has reached 108, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar visited the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital, and took stock of the condition of children.

Kumar had to face peoples' outrage outside the hospital. A group of relatives of the children and villagers, gathered outside the hospital, shouted "Nitish Kumar wapas jao" (Nitish Kumar go back) and waving black flags at him.

A large number of policemen had to deployed infront of the hopital gate to control the protesters.

Kumar held a high-level meeting on Monday evening to review the situation which has arisen due to the outbreak of the disease, which has claimed lives of 126 children in the state.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Dr CP Thakur on Monday raised questions over Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the state government over the AES outbreak and said that the state govermment gets active only at the time of outbreak of the deadly disease.

On Monday, during a state health department meeting, state Health Minister Mangal Pandey was heard asking about a cricket match. In a video of the meeting, Pandey can be heard asking, "What about the match?" to which another person replies "4th wicket down."

Encephalitis, called 'Chamki' fever in Hindi, is a viral disease, which causes mild flu-like symptoms such as high fever, convulsions and headaches. In India, AES outbreak is typically linked to consumption of unripe litchi fruit by children on empty stomachs.