Nepal: Unidentified illness sickens 200

[Ronan Kelly]

Around 200 villagers fall sick in western Nepal
English.news.cn 2012-05-12 18:10:34
KATHMANDU, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Around 200 people at Neta of Arman Village Development Committee in Myagdi district in western Nepal were sicken by an unidentified disease in the last four days, local media reported on Saturday.

The disease affected a majority of 50 families in Neta, said Harka Bahadur Chhantyal, a local resident. The sick suffered from shaking body, reeling, fever and unconsciousness, he added.

Elderly people and children have been mostly affected by the disease. The villagers have been panic-stricken as they suffered from the disease in turn having the similar symptoms among them, said Chhantyal, who is also the teacher of local Mangala Higher Secondary School.
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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/health/2012-05/12/c_131583933.htm

[alert]

Re: Nepal: Unidentified illness sickens 200

http://www.promedmail.org/

Published Date: 2012-05-12 16:29:24
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Undiagnosed febrile illness - Nepal: (PM) RFI
Archive Number: 20120512.1131192

UNDIAGNOSED FEBRILE ILLNESS - NEPAL: (WESTERN REGION) REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
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Date: 12 May 2012
Source: Xinhuanet

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/health/2012-05/12/c_131583933.htm

Around 200 people at Neta of Arman Village Development Committee in Myagdi district in western Nepal were sicken by an unidentified disease in the last 4 days, local media reported on Saturday [12 May 2012].

The disease affected a majority of 50 families in Neta, said Harka Bahadur Chhantyal, a local resident. The sick suffered from shaking body, reeling, fever and unconsciousness, he added.

Elderly people and children have been mostly affected by the disease. The villagers have been panic-stricken as they suffered from the disease in turn having the similar symptoms among them, said Chhantyal, who is also the teacher of local Mangala Higher Secondary School.

According to THT Online report [the original newswire is from the Himalayan Times, available at http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/ful...NewsID=331699], the District Public Health Office have urged the local health post to examine and distribute medicine in an effective manner after the unidentified disease was severe in the village, said District Public Health Officer Dr Jhalak Gautam Sharma.

Meanwhile, the Arman Health Post organized a health camp to examine and distribute medicine to the villagers affected by the disease.

[Editor: Chen Zhi]

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Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Mary Marshall

[The above newswire report mentions an as yet undiagnosed illness associated with fever, rigor (chills) and loss of consciousness, occurring in approximately 200 individuals over a reported 4 day period, affecting most severely the elderly and children. In the absence of additional information, the differential diagnosis list is rather extensive, involving viral, bacterial and parasitic etiologies. One wonders what the medication is that was distributed to the population and the success of the health camp in mitigating the illness. There is no mention of fatalities, suggesting the disease may be relatively mild.

In the past, ProMED-mail has covered a number of "undiagnosed" outbreaks in Nepal, of which several were identified as due to known endemic/epidemic agents such as influenza, malaria and Japanese encephalitis. A number of these outbreaks occurred in somewhat more remote villages without regular access to medical services, and the media were helpful in getting medical services to these areas. According to Wikipedia, according to the 1991 Nepal census, Armon had a population of 3867, with 767 households. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arman,_Nepal, showing a map of Nepal with the location of Arman.)

ProMED-mail would greatly appreciate more information on the above mentioned outbreak including clinical syndrome, likely etiology and epidemiologic evaluation from knowledgeable sources in the region.

Myagdi district is located in the Western Region of Nepal. Beni as the district headquarters. The district has an area of 2297 sq.km. with the 2001 estimated population of 114 447 (of note, the 2012 preliminary census report is available online, but this moderator does not read Nepali, nor is an online machine translation for websites available to permit an updating of this population estimate http://census.gov.np/images/pdf/Popu...ort%202011.pdf.) - Mod.MPP]