Dadeldhura, September 6:

Many villagers have been suffering from typhoid in Jogbudha Alimal and Shirsha village development committees of Dadeldhura district. People living in parts of the district have also been suffering from viral influenza.

The shortage of medicines has further aggravated the plight of the affected villagers.

Local residents said most patients have been suffering from cough, headache and bodyache. These are the symptoms of typhoid. They fear that a typhoid will morph into a public health crisis if concrete steps are not taken to control the outbreak of typhoid.

The disease has hit hard the people living in Sadani, Lamidanda, Dhuntigada, Jamerani, Phareni, Tatapani, Chhela and Farali village development committees of the district, which lies in the far-western region, one of the backward regions of the country.

A local resident, Nara Bahadur Bohora, said the number of typhoid patients has been increasing day by day.

Medicines are in short supply in local health posts, Bohora further said.

However, the District Public Health Office said it has already sent medicines and a team of health workers to the affected village development committees.

Another report from the district said people living in some parts of the district have been suffering from viral influenza.

The disease has broken out in parts of the district mainly due to the consumption of impure drinking water.

Local residents have no option except to drink water from sources that are contaminated, the district public health office said.