India's encephalitis death toll rises to 90

The death toll in an encephalitis outbreak in India's northern Uttar Pradesh state has risen to 90 on Thursday with more deaths being reported due to the mosquito-borne disease. Most of the dead were children and more than 200 people were in hospital, many of them in a critical condition. The death figure is likely to go up as more patients are coming in, according to a health official in Gorakhpur. Nearly two dozen patients were being admitted into the main government hospital in Gorakhpur every day with symptoms of encephalitis including fever, muscle ache and vomiting. Encephalitis, an acute form of brain fever, is caused by a virus spread by mosquitoes and proliferates in water-logged parts of India during the monsoon season. In 2004, about 50 people died of the disease in the northern state. India experienced heavy rains and serious flooding during this year's monsoon season, which runs from June to September. In Mumbai and adjacent areas, the death toll from diseases such as leptospirosis, gastroenteritis and malaria reached 210 on Thursday after the worst floods in history hit the region three weeks ago. Many post-flooding deaths in Mumbai were caused by leptospirosis, a bacterial disease spread by exposure to water contaminated with urine of infected animals.