RAJBIRAJ: As many as 69 people are reported to have fallen sick with diarrhoea in Koiladi VDC-2 of Saptari district since Monday.

Just after the epidemic came under control in a nearby Jamuni Madhepura village, Koiladi has fallen into the grip of disease.

Majority of the infected are women and children, according to locals.

Meanwhile, a local health post has run out of medicine stocks due to the large inflow of people seeking medication.

According to the District Public Health Office Chief Bijay Kumar Jha, he had deployed health workers in the area and had arranged medicines as soon as he knew the situation.Dozens of affected people are being treated at Rajbiraj-based Gajendra Narayan Singh Sagarmatha Zonal Hospital while many are being treated at health posts based in the village itself.

Jha warned members of the public against consuming impure drinking water and stale food as they are major causes of the disease. Likewise, he requested them to maintain proper hygiene and sanitation.

The DPHO recently launched a door-to-door campaign for awareness, he informed.

Meanwhile, health professionals from Kathmandu reached the affected area today in the bid to support the locals to free themselves from the grip of epidemics.