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| Sunday, 12 January 2003 |
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Ratnapura warned of outbreak Japanese Encephalitis By Carol Aloysius Residents of the Gem City have been warned to take precautions against the deadly Japanese Encephalitis (JE), following a recent outbreak of the deadly disease that leads to death.. The disease which has already affected several persons is caused by mosquitoes carrying the virus. These mosquitoes (the culex species) generally breed in irrigated rice fields, shallow ditches and pools and bite during the evening and night. "Man is only the accidental host. The mosquito is the first victim as it gets infected after feeding on an infected animal such as pigs , cattle or birds like the heron and wild duck . It is only when an infected mosquito bites a person that it transmits the virus to human beings", health sources told the Sunday Observer. Although this is probably the first time that Ratnapura residents have been afflicted by Japanese Encephalitis, the disease has increasingly become widespread in the North Central, Eastern and North Western Provinces since the JE virus was first isolated in Sri Lanka in 1968. While the disease affects persons of all ages, children between the ages of 1 to 10 are the most vulnerable, health sources said. |
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