NEPALGUNJ, Sept 10: Narainapur Rural Municipality of Banke district has recorded a patient of Japanese encephalitis. A nine-year-old girl was diagnosed with Japanese encephalitis, Bheri Hospital said.

Pediatrician Dr Pratima Khadka said the girl suffering from Japanese encephalitis was receiving treatment at the ICU and she had a normal health condition at present.

"The laboratory report confirmed that the child had got the virus," she added. 

Chief at the District Health Office, Angad Bahadur Shahi, said that it was not clear whether the girl was immunized against Japanese encephalitis.

However, there is a mandatory provision that children from 12 to 23 months after birth are immunized against Japanese encephalitis.

According to medical experts, the virus of Japanese encephalitis is found in pigs and birds. Once an infected mosquito of culex species bites a human, it transmits the disease. 

The virus causes fever, nausea, shivering and headache, according to Dr Sanket Kumar Risal, information officer at Bheri Hospital.

Meanwhile, the hospital has set up a separate ward for the patients suffering from diarrhea. Three girls are undergoing treatment here. Among them, one is critical, Dr Khadka added.