Municipalities moving piggeries out of human habitation. With the State grappling with the rising number of encephalitis cases, the West Bengal government has decided to conduct an entomological survey in north Bengal and directed the municipalities to move the piggeries located in towns outside human habitation. Speaking to The Hindu on Tuesday, B R Satpathi, Director of Health Services, West Bengal, said the government had roped in the Centre for Research in Medical Entomology, Madurai, to conduct a survey in the affected areas in north Bengal. The survey will help doctors and health experts in ascertaining the mode of transmission of the virus. So far, 83 persons have died either of acute encephalitis syndrome or Japanese encephalitis in north Bengal. The outbreak of encephalitis has been reported in the region since 2011 during monsoon, but the deaths in a few weeks in 2014 have surpassed the figures of previous years. Doctors say since human beings are terminal host of the mosquito-borne virus and pigs and wild birds are intermediate host, doing away with the intermediate host may reduce the cases. “We held meetings with the authorities from the Siliguri and Jalpiaguri municipalities so that the piggeries located in the towns could be removed,” Dr. Satpathi said. While the municipal authorities have already started the drive to remove the pigs, the senior health official himself admitted that many people’s livelihood is dependent on pig rearing. According to doctors, the transmission of the virus proceeds from mosquitoes to pigs and then from pigs to human beings through mosquitoes again. The virus does not affect pigs in any way. A section of experts also believes it cannot be said with all the certainty that pigs are the reason for spread of the disease, but since the animal serves as a carrier, the State government is trying to shift the animals out of human habitation. The Director of Health Service said that the State government’s Animal Husbandry Department has also been contacted and a proposal made to vaccinate the pigs in the region. Meanwhile, Dr. Satpathi said that since those affected with the encephalitis virus did not include children, it was certain that the vaccine for encephalitis – started in 2012 - was coming out with positive results. Centre for Research in Medical Entomology, Madurai, has been roped in to conduct survey. 83 persons have died either of acute encephalitis syndrome or Japanese encephalitis so far.