Seventeen die in UP of encephalitis

The authorities in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh say at least seventeen people have died of Japanese encephalitis during the past month.

Unofficial figures are believed to be even higher, as cases in remote villages often go unreported.

Most of the victims are said to be children.

Japanese encephalitis, a mosquito-borne viral brain infection, was first reported in the region more than twenty years ago.

Since then more than seven-thousand people have died from the disease.

The state government has set aside about one million rupees for combatting the virus this year and a team of medical experts has been sent to the affected areas.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service