Biratnagar, July 25:

Twenty-eight persons have been diagnosed with malaria in parts of Morang district lying near the Mahendra Highway.

Pathari, Urlabari, Mangalbarey, Sanischarey and Madhumalla VDCs are in the grip of malaria. The district health post office said over 730 persons have been suffering from fever and that 28 have been diagnosed with malaria.

Twenty-three of the 28 have been diagnosed with a mild form of malaria, while five have been diagnosed with severe malaria, said chief health officer of the DPHO Bhanu Yangden. Taking into account the increase in the cases of malaria, the DPHO is carrying out blood tests of all those suffering from fever, Yangen said.

Teams of health workers are working to treat patients in the affected areas, he said, terming the malaria outbreak in this eastern district the worst since 1978. The then government had declared Morang a malaria-free area in 1978.

He said that the teams are moving from door to door testing blood of people suffering from fever and providing on-the-spot medication.

Putting up in tents in the affected areas, the DPHO’s mobile teams are attending to the patients. All those reporting sudden headaches and high fever are being treated as possible malaria patients, said Yangden.

According to DPHO statistics, of the 356 persons in Pathari tested for malaria, nine were reported to be suffering from mild malaria while two were serious.