Malaria Outbreak in Northeast India Kills 25, Affects 10,000

At least 25 people have died between January and April from an outbreak of malaria in India's northeastern state of Assam, and almost 10,000 people have been affected by the disease, Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday, IANS/EarthTimes.org reports. Eight of Assam's 29 districts have been affected by the outbreak, and unofficial reports put the death toll at around 40. An early monsoon likely is the cause of the outbreak. According to Sarma, doctors and paramedics across the area have been alerted, while medical teams and mobile units are "fanning out to vulnerable areas to check the spread of malaria." Sarma called the situation "well under control" and said that the issue was less alarming than last year's outbreak, during which 304 people died. Government authorities also are concerned that the disease might spread to the hundreds of Indian soldiers deployed on the country's border with Bhutan. An army commander said that troops are being provided with specially designed insecticide-treated nets and mosquito repellant "as a precaution against malaria" (IANS/EarthTimes.org, 5/1).