Five more die of dysentery in Jajarkot

Five persons have died of acute dysentery that has gripped several villages in the mid-western district of Jajarkot, bringing the official death toll to 51.

Reports said four deaths were reported in Jungathapachour and Portang while one person died in Tolerkar in the past 24 hours. Among them, three were women.

Hundreds of people have been affected by the disease in these villages where medicine and health workers are scare. It takes three days of walk from the district headquarters to reach the affected areas, reports said.

Dysentery has spread in at least 16 VDCs of Jajarkot over the last few weeks. The District Public Health Office has said teams of health workers with medicines have been deployed to the affected villages, but the disease has not come under control yet.

Health officials attribute lack of sanitation, unhygienic food and absence of medical facilities to the spread of diarrhoea in these villages. nepalnews.com July 04 09