Japanese Encephalitis

The leading cause of vaccine-preventable encephalitis in Asia and the Western Pacific.

Discovered in 1871 (first described), 1935 (isolated) by Japanese researchers (First isolate: Nakayama strain)

Culex mosquitoes (natural cycle in pigs and wading birds)

Supportive care

Vaccination, mosquito avoidance

Pigs act as 'amplifying hosts', meaning the virus multiplies to very high levels inside them!