Thiruvananthapuram

A total of 104 cases of amoebic encephalitis (brain fever) have been reported so far in Kerala, of which 23 patients have died, state health minister Veena George said on Sunday.

The state is battling the rare and often fatal brain infection caused by the "brain-eating amoeba" Naegleria fowleri.

Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts have been most affected according to estimates, while cases are also increasing in Kozhikode and Malappuram.

"Following the Nipah outbreak in Kozhikode in 2023, it was decided and directed that all cases of encephalitis (brain fever) must be mandatorily reported and that the causes behind such cases should be identified. As a result, from 2024 onwards, encephalitis cases began to be officially reported, and some of them were found to be amoebic encephalitis, George said in a post on Facebook.

"Including the cases reported today, a total of 104 amoebic encephalitis cases have been reported so far, of which 23 patients have died," George said

In 2024 itself, the Health Department issued both general and technical guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

The state health minister detailed that globally, the fatality rate for Naegleria fowleri infection is 98 per cent, and for Acanthamoeba-related cases, it is above 70 per cent. "Despite such high global mortality rates, Kerala has managed to significantly reduce the death rate by detecting and treating the disease at an early stage," she said.

In 2025, an action plan based on the One Health approach was prepared and implemented to prevent amoebic encephalitis.

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"Based on the decisions taken at a joint meeting chaired by the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan various departments are working together to ensure scientific chlorination and other preventive measures are carried out continuously across the state," the minister said.