NEW DELHI, Sept. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- With 18 more people succumbing to encephalitis, the death toll from the killer disease in Uttar Pradesh has crossed 430 despite the efforts of local government to bring the situation under control.

    "All possible arrangements are being made to tackle the disease,but how can we save people from falling victim to the virus?" O.P.Singh, the province health director general, was quoted by Indo-Asian News Service as saying Saturday.

    "With the central government promising to provide 7.5 million vials of the special encephalitis vaccine, we would definitely be better equipped to combat the disease next year," he said.

    According to Singh, the immediate challenge was to check the increasing number of pigs and the proliferation of mosquitoes.

    "Pigs provide the breeding ground for the virus of the disease and mosquitoes are the carrier. Unless we attack both, we will fail to curb the spread of the disease," he said.

    Nearly 400 deaths have occurred at Gorakhpur Medical College alone since the disease broke out on July 27. Experts say the actual toll could be much higher than the official figure. Enditem