Balurghat, Aug. 9: Two children from Bansihari have died of viral encephalitis in the past 24 hours and least 10 others have developed symptoms of the killer disease.

Chief medical officer of health of South Dinajpur Asit Kumar Mondal said nine-year-old Anup Roy and Bidhan Mondal, 10, who had been admitted to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri with viral encephalitis yesterday afternoon, died this morning.

“The NBMCH authorities have confirmed that they died because of viral encephalitis. Of the 10 children who have been down with fever, two have been admitted to the district hospital in Balurghat,” the CMOH said.

For the past one week, several children had been complaining of high fever, severe headache, nausea and delirium at Shantipur village in Bansihari, the CMOH said.

Most of the children had been admitted to Rashipur health centre and Gangarampur subdivisional hospital.

But their condition deteriorated and Anup and Bidhan were shifted to the NBMCH.

The CMOH said an eight-member medical team headed by deputy CMOH Gourav Roy had been sent to Shantipur and adjoining Biswanathpur, 70km from Balurghat.

According to Mondal, blood samples have been collected. A medical camp has also been opened in the area under block medical officer, Tapas Saha.

Block medical officer Saha said: “Encephalitis usually spreads through pigs. But no one is known to rear pigs in the locality. We suspect that someone might have been infected with the disease from outside and it had then spread through mosquito bites.”

Shankar Mondal said his son Bidhan had shown symptoms of the disease on Saturday. He was taken to Rashipur primary health centre that evening. The doctors there referred him to the NBMCH, where he was admitted late Sunday night. Bidhan died there this morning. Anup, who died yesterday afternoon, was admitted to the NBMCH on August 1.