The ‘plague of the Orient’, otherwise known as Japanese encephalitis (JE), is a mosquito-borne infection and the main cause of viral encephalitis (DoH, 1996). JE is caused by a flavivirus of the Flaviviridae family of arbo-viruses, recognized for their clinical affect on the central nervous system (Cook, 1996). JE appears in temperate and tropical regions. It is generally endemic in rural areas, especially on pig farms and in rice fields. Epidemics occur in both rural and urban areas (DoH, 1996).