New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS): India witnessed 10,834 cases of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in 2014, with Uttar Pradesh recording the highest with 3,329 cases, followed by Assam with 2,194, said a new report by the health ministry released on Tuesday.

As per the report, in 2014 India witnessed 1,716 deaths due to the disease.

"The top two states that witnessed the highest number of deaths caused by AES are Uttar Pradesh with 627 deaths and Assam with 360 deaths," said the report.

AES is a group of clinical neurologic manifestations caused by a wide range of viruses, bacteria, fungus, parasites, spirochetes, chemicals and toxins.

West Bengal had the third highest number of cases at 2,381. However, Bihar had the third highest number of deaths at 355, while the number of cases was 1,385.

According to the ministry, Assam had the highest Japanese Encephalitis cases at 761, and 165 deaths in 2014.

Japanese Encephalitis is a flavivirus related to the dengue, yellow fever and West Nile viruses, and is spread by mosquitoes. It is the main cause of viral encephalitis in many Asian countries with nearly 68,000 clinical cases every year.

Assam was followed by West Bengal with 410 cases and 77 deaths, while Uttar Pradesh saw 191 cases and 34 deaths.

The total number of Japanese Encephalitis cases in the country in 2014 stood at 1,652, while there were 292 deaths.

There was no Japanese Encephalitis or AES case in Nagaland, Maharashtra, Manipur and Punjab.