Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday announced the establishment of a research centre, 100-bed ICU for children and a virology lab within a year in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur where death toll from the Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) climbed to 85.

As 12 more children died from the disease in the past 24 hours, the minister visited Muzaffarpur to take stock of the situation.

Harsh Vardhan braved black flags and demonstrations by Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav’s Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) at Patna airport . He faced protests while coming out of the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital also to meet the patients and their wards. The protest was against the government’s alleged lethargy behind the high AES toll this year.

The minister had also to face the ire of patients’ relatives, who alleged lack of facilities at the hospital. Harsh Vardhan , himself a doctor, said the disease had rebounded this year after a dip since 2014.

“One thing is clear that the patients who reached hospital in time were treated and recovered. A majority of the kids suffered from low blood sugar level and electrolyte imbalance. We do not know the reason behind AES, but theories regarding its relation to virus, litchi fruit, metabolic reasons, high level of heat and humidity in the atmosphere have been discussed. This disease increases in May and peaks in June. There could be virus that has mutated and cannot be detected by the current tests,” Harsh Vardhan said.

“In this situation, there is a great need for an inter-disciplinary, state-of-the-art research centre that will be connected to eminent national and international research institutions to investigate the causes of the disease. We have fixed a one-year timeline for it. The Union government will support it financially and technically. A virology lab will also be established here within this time frame,” Harsh Vardhan added.

He was accompanied by minister of state for health Ashwini Choubey.