As a pre-emptive step, the central health ministry is planning to impart a special 20-day training in January to doctors involved in treating the dreaded Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES), in North Bihar. The diseases is notorious for breaking out annually in North Bihar ahead of the ripening season of Litchi in March.

Towards this end the state health department has sought list and details of doctors from Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Motihari, Sheohar and Vaishali to undergo training at tp Delhi hospitals. THE AES is believed to have killed over 150 children in Bihar last year. The AES cases in Bihar were misdiagnosed as Japanese encephalitis till late 1990s since the symptoms and the seasonal outbreak of the two diseases are similar.

A central team that visited Bihar last year had stressed on the need for capacity building of doctors, nurses and paramedics to battle AES outbreak.