The infected pigs that were responsible for the first-ever Japanese Encephalitis cases in the city, are untraceable and the Delhi government is yet to launch a dri-ve to collect blood samples of 500 pigs from slaughter houses even two weeks after it was announced.
According to a senior Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) official,Vector-borne diseases start showing a dip in winter. So,with no further directions from the state government,we are not sure if we should collect samples.
A vector borne disease that is spread by Culex tritaeniorhy-nchus species of mosquitoes,the JE virus is hosted in pigs and is feared for its mortality rate of 20-40 per cent. When contacted by Newsline,Delhi Health Minister Dr A K Walia said,Even if the cases have dropped,the pigs,which were hosting the virus,need to be traced. The MCD has been slackening on this matter.
Dr R P Vashist,head of the states Integrated Disease Surveillance Project said,I will have to check with the MCD on why the sample collection has not started. There were clear directions that the infected pigs had to be traced immediately.
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As many as 14 people from Northwest,Central and East Delhi were diagnosed with JE between September-October.
Asked about the sample collection,MCD Health Committee Chairperson V K Monga described the process as a tedious task and that that the process was delayed because of problems in procuring the appropriate test tubes.
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