Four dead, 65 ill from viral fever in Nepalese village

KALIKOT - Viral fever has claimed four lives in the remote Khin VDC, Kalikot district, in the past three weeks while at least 65 people, mostly children, have fallen ill.

The disease outbreak remained unreported for quite some time as the only telephone line in the VDC, located some 74 km west of district headquarters Manma, has been out of order for the last two months.

A group of villagers arrived in Manma on Saturday to inform the local administration and the District Public Health Office of the situation. Man Bahadur Buda, a local school principal, said that four children had died of viral fever since early August. One-year-old Sarita Bishwokarma succumbed to the fever on August 1.

Two days later, two-year-old Shanti Bishwokarma died, followed by Sabita Buda, 14, and five-month-old Mamata Bishwokarma on August 18 and August 20, respectively.

Meanwhile, a local health post at Neta village has run out of medical supplies, greatly affecting the treatment of patients.

Jaimal Buda, a local, said that many children were down with fever and symptoms like cold, headache and swelling of body parts. In some parts of the VDC, schools were closed after children started contracting viral fever.

Chief District Officer Jagat Bahadur Basnet said that a police team had been mobilised to the affected area.

Dhirjung Shah, senior health officer at the DPHO, said that the viral fever had not yet gone endemic in the VDC and could be contained.

Shah said that two health workers had been deployed to the VDC to treat the patients.