Assam has recorded the highest number of deaths due to Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in India over the past nine years, accounting for nearly 62 per cent of all fatalities reported across the country during the period.
According to data from the National Centre for Vector Borne Diseases Control (NCVBDC), Assam reported 3,767 positive JE cases between 2018 and March 2026. During the same period, the state recorded 609 deaths, while the rest of India reported 376 deaths, highlighting Assam’s continued vulnerability to the mosquito-borne disease.
In 2018, Assam registered 509 JE cases and 94 deaths. The situation worsened in 2019, when the state reported 642 cases and 161 deaths. During the Covid-19 years, the number of infections declined, with 320 cases and 51 deaths in 2020, followed by 248 cases and 40 deaths in 2021.
However, the disease resurged in 2022 with 456 cases and 96 deaths. In 2023, Assam recorded 525 cases and 34 deaths, while 2024 witnessed the highest number of infections during the review period, with 670 cases and 53 fatalities.
In 2025, the state reported 423 cases and 79 deaths. Between January and March 2026, four cases and one death have been reported.
Public health experts have stressed the need for intensified surveillance, vaccination drives in high-risk areas, improved pig management, and early referral systems to curb the disease. They noted that Assam alone accounted for 62 per cent of India’s total JE deaths during the period under review.
Guwahati-based physician Dr. Raj Dutta attributed the state’s vulnerability to extensive paddy cultivation, high rainfall, recurrent floods, and one of India’s largest pig populations, all of which create favourable conditions for the transmission of the JE virus.
Although vaccination campaigns have reduced the overall disease burden, experts warn that environmental, climatic, and socio-economic factors continue to support mosquito breeding and periodic outbreaks across the state.
