More than 900 dead in Uttar Pradesh encephalitis outbreak

(Reuters) - The death toll in India's worst encephalitis outbreak in nearly 30 years has reached 900 but the number of new infections has fallen in the past week, officials said on Sunday.

More than 4,200 people have fallen ill with the virus in the densely-populated northern state of Uttar Pradesh since late July and close to 90 percent of fatalities have been children between 3-to-15 years.

"With 12 deaths over the past 24 hours, the overall toll has reached 914," a spokesman for the Uttar Pradesh government said.

Encephalitis is caused by a virus found in pigs and wild birds and transferred to humans by a mosquito bite. The disease affects the brain and causes headaches, convulsions, high fever and respiratory distress. Many survivors are left mentally or physically handicapped.