As many as 21 people have died of diarrhea in Bajura, Doti, Dadeldhura and Bajhang districts. The spread of the disease in Doti, where the first diarrhea case had been detected almost two weeks ago, has sped up in the last four days. As of Friday, diarrhea has hit seven VDCs, according to Mahendra Shrestha, chief, District Health Office, Doti. In the district alone, around 100 people have contracted the disease. Nine-month-old Gita Bhul of Banlekh-9, and Narma Devi Rawat, 35, of Latamandu-9 lost their lives to the disease in the district this week, said Shrestha.
According to District Public Health Office, Dadeldhura, where the first diarrhea case was detected five days ago, as many as 10 people have contracted the disease. A team led by Subodh Mishra, acting chief, Regional Health Directorate, headed to the district on Thursday to take measures to contain the spread of the disease.
In Bajura, one person had lost life to the disease in the past week, according to Ram Chandra Yadav, chief, District Health Office. So far, four people in Doti, 11 in Bajura, three in Dedeldhura, and three in Bajhang have lost their lives to the disease.
Bhim Singh Tinkari, director, Regional Health Directorate, said the spread was fuelled by contamination of drinking water sources. “Due to absence of toilets, people defecate and urinate in the open near water sources. The human waste contaminates water and leads to the spread of the waterborne disease,” he said.
The brief rainfall after a long dry spell washed the waste to the rivers. But since no more rain followed, the water sources were not cleaned by rain thereafter this year, he explained. According to Yogendra Balayar of Latamandu, more than 80 per cent villagers do not use toilets.
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