Warning issued on water borne diseases

Warning issued on water borne diseases

KATHMANDU: 

Kathmandu District Public Health Office (KDPHO) today ordered health institutions to report cases of water borne diseases to enable immediate response so as to tackle the diseases. Shree Krishna Bhatta, chief of KDPHO, said the office will also broadcast a message on using clean drinking water and consuming safe food through local FM stations in Kathmandu.      

The only way to lessen the risk of communicable diseases is to pay attention to food and drinking habits and referring people with symptoms to the nearest hospital, said Bhatta. Till date, the capital has not recorded any outbreak of water borne diseases.               

Epidemiology and Disease Control Division at the Health Ministry said it has already directed DPHOs to maintain daily record of patients suffering from waterborne diseases during the dry season. The division has also issued a nationwide circular asking DPHOs not to sanction any general leave to health workers from mid-April to mid-September.    

Emergency leave should only be allowed after making arrangements for an alternative health worker, said the circular.The division has also directed to engage in active case detection if more than five patients are diagnosed with water borne diseases at the same place or deaths are reported at the same place.

Source: The Himalayan Times

30th April, 2013 

Bird flu in Bhairahawa 

BHAIRAHAWA: 

After Chitwan and Rupandehi, bird flu cases have been reported in Bhairahawa on Thursday. Laxman Dhakal, chief of the District Livestock Office, Rupendehi, said the virus has been confirmed at Sandip Poultry Farm, after samples collected from the farm tested positive. The farm belongs to Dirganarayan Yadav at Pokharvindi VDC. Dhakal said four fowls were culled in the farm. More than 200 poultry farms are registered in the district. He said an awareness programme against bird flu needs to be conducted in the district. 

Source: The Himalayan Times 

April 25th , 2013

Govt to distribute over 2.5m mosquito nets

Govt to distribute over 2.5m mosquito nets

KATHMANDU,

In its efforts to meet the national target of controlling malaria by 2015, the government is planning to distribute over 2.5 million Insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs). The Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD) under the Department of Health services plans to distribute 2,574,932 ITNs in 31 districts affected by malaria.

As the country marked World Malaria Day on Thursday, Chief of the EDCD Dr GD Thakur said they will distribute 1.4 million nets this fiscal year, while the remaining will be disturbed next year. The government will provide one net for two people aged more than five in each household, while pregnant women will be given the nets during their routine pregnancy check-up. Earlier, the government had provided the nets to only 13 districts bordering India.

However, this time, apart from 10 districts in the Himalaya region, the government will provide the nets to 13 most vulnerable and 18 vulnerable districts. The 13 districts that the programme covered earlier were Jhapa, Ilam, Morang, Dhanusa, Mohattari, Sindhuli, Kavre, Nawalparasi, Bardiya, Kailali, Kanchanpur, Dadeldhura and Banke. 

The added districts include Panchthar, Dhankuta, Sunsari, Saptari, Siraha, Udayapur, Sarlahi, Rautahat, Bara, Parsa, Makawanpur, Chitwan, Sindhupalchowk, Rupandehi, Kapilvastu, Dang, Surkhet and Doti. According to the EDCD, around 20.5 million people of 65 districts are affected by malaria.The government has also been conducting malaria control programmes with support from the Global Fund since 2004. 

The EDCD says that the number of confirmed malaria casese has decreased by 1/3 in comparison to 2004. Statistics show there are over 3,200 malaria cases in Nepal at present.  

Malaria is caused in humans through the sting of the anopheles mosquito. According to the World Health Organization, the first symptoms of malaria are fever, headache, chills and vomiting, which may be mild and difficult to recognise as malaria.It says that if not treated within 24 hours, the P falciparum malaria can progress to severe illness often leading to death. Children with severe malaria frequently develop one or more symptoms, including severe anaemia.

Source: The Kantipur Daily

APR 26, 2013 

 

Bird flu in chitwan : Farmers report Rs 60 million loss

Bird flu in Chitwan : Farmers report Rs 60 million loss

CHITWAN, APR 24 -

A recurrence of the bird flu pandemic in Chitwan has put at risk investments worth millions of rupees. The southern district has witnessed several bird flu outbreaks this year. According to poultry farmers, the pandemic has caused losses estimated at Rs 60 million. Investments in poultry farming in Chitwan amount to around Rs 25 billion. The district is the heart of the country’s poultry business.

On Monday, cases of bird flu were confirmed at two more farms. Ram Kumar Karki, chief of the District Livestock Service Office in Chitwan, said that around 2,876 fowls at the farm of Chitra Raj Shrestha in Bharatpur Municipality and 3,175 chickens and 300 eggs at the farm of Ram Babu Thapaliya in Mangalpur VDC were destroyed on Monday night. 

According to him, bird flu has been seen in five places in Chitwan in recent times. There are 500 farms raising layer chickens and 1,000 farms raising broiler chickens in the district. Layer chickens are raised for eggs while broilers are raised for meat production. There are 10 layer chicken and 45 broiler chicken hatcheries in the district. An estimated 60,000 people are directly employed in poultry farming. 

Chandra Man Shrestha, president of the Poultry Entrepreneurs Forum, said that the disease spread rapidly due to delays in confirming the outbreak by government officials. As tests have to be confirmed by the Central Laboratory, it takes a lot of time. “As a result, the disease spread rapidly.” 

He added that if infected chickens were culled immediately, it would slow down the spread of the disease. Some big firms do not wait for the test results after they suspect an outbreak. They take action immediately to prevent it from spreading. “They slaughter the chickens by themselves and then bury them. The reason is that they fear losing the market,” Shrestha said.   Two weeks ago, bird flu was seen at the farm of Pratap Thapa in Saradpur which contained around 4,000 chickens. Livestock officers culled 2,200 chickens, while the rest of the infected chickens were found dead on the farm.  

Last Friday, the disease was detected on the farms of Laxmi Rana at Basanta Chowk in Bharatpur and Rajendra Hamal at Mangalpur. After the outbreak, 28,575 chickens were slaughtered at the two farms.

According to the forum, Rana suffered a loss of Rs 40 million while Hamal lost around Rs 2.5 million. “We will recommend to the government to compensate the losses,” Karki said. “We cannot recommend compensation for chickens that have died on the farm.” Poultry entrepreneurs said that it costs Rs 500 to Rs 600 to raise a layer chicken. However, the government pays Rs 130 for a chicken and Rs 3 for an egg as compensation.

Nimbus announces relief for bird flu hit farm

Nimbus Group under its recently launched ‘Bird Flu Relief Fund’ will provide Rs 419,250 in compensation to bird flu hit farmer Rajendra Hamal in Chitwan, the group has said in a statement.Hamal farm was recently declared bird flu hit farm by the government. The Rapid Response Team under the Department of Livestock Services on April 19 slaughtered 3,225 layer birds in his farm.

The relief amount will be provided as per the data of the government in ‘certificate of destruction’. In January, Nimbus had compensated Rs 343,200 to layers farmers at Sitapaila in Kathmandu. Nimbus, the producer of Shakti brand of feed, had declared the relief scheme on December 9, 2012.

Source: The Kantipur Daily

Tankers supplying unsafe water

Tankers supplying unsafe water

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: With the onset of the dry season, unregistered water tankers are supplying unsafe drinking water to people in the Kathmandu Valley without taking permission from the government authority.

Of the 700 water tanker operators in the valley, only 362 of them have obtained permission to supply drinking water from the concerned authorities, said the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD).

The 362 registered tanker operators include 56 water suppliers, 35 institutions, 60 apartment builders, 35 industries, 15 hospitals, 40 hotels and entrepreneurs, 75 belonging to Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL), according to a report that Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Board (KVWSMB) has prepared.        

Speaking at the eighth anniversary of the KVWSMB today, MoUD secretary Kishor Thapa said the tankers are supplying low quality and contaminated drinking water to the people. He further demanded legal action against these operators.                       

Though an illegal operator can face a fine upto Rs 50,000 and confiscation of all equipment used in supplying water, no one has taken action against them yet. Hari Prasad Sharma, chief of the Tariff Fixation Commission (TFC), blamed lack of coordination between the government authorities, execution and proper management for the weak monitoring system. Kalyan Singh Thapa, general manager of the KVWSMB, said lack of resources and other problems are to blame for KVWSMB’s underperformance.               

KVWSMB, KUKL and TFC are the government bodies supposed to look after all water-related issues including water supply and quality control in the valley. The valley requires 350 million litres of water daily, while the daily supply during the dry and the wet season stand at 80 million litres and 150 million litres, respectively.         

Raj Kumar Malla, KVWSMB chairman, pointed that growing urbanisation, shortage of water resources, and lack of regular and sufficient supply are among the factors that have contributed to water woes in the Capital.               

“We are planning to incorporate rainwater harvesting and complete Melamchi Drinking Water Project at the soonest to address the valley’s water problems,” he said.

Source: The Himalayan Times

18th April, 2013

Diarrhoea adds to fire victims' woes

RAUTAHAT: 

Three days after a massive fire gutted 100 houses in Basbitti Jingadiya and Raghunathpur VDCs in Rautahat, a diarrhoea outbreak has gripped the villages adding to the woes of the fire victims.

Sadrul Nesha, a fire victim from Basbitti Jingadiya, who is suffering from diarrhoea is being treated at a neighbour’s house, family members said. Likewise, 10 more who are suffering from diarrhoea, are receiving treatment, local Sekh Gernel said.

According to District Superintendent of Police Govindaram Pariyar, they had informed the District Public Health Office to dispatch health workers to treat the fire victims. Meanwhile, the District Public Health Office, Gaur, said that a team of health workers led by Dr Kaushar Aalam had already started treating the patients.

Dr Aalm said contaminated water has been the cause behind diarrhoea outbreak in the villages. He asked the locals to only drink filtered water and called on the government to provide food and shelter to the aggrieved fire victims without further delay.

Source: The Himalayan Times

16th April, 2013
 

Jhapa bird flu in 2 more places

Jhapa bird flu in 2 more places

JHAPA, APR 10 -

The District Livestock Office (DLO) has confirmed bird flu at two more places in Jhapa. With this, avian influenza has been detected at six places in the district within the past eight days alone. After bird flu confirmation at Bhadrapur-12 and Prithivinagar-5 on Tuesday, a rapid response team of the DLO slaughtered around 200 chicken and destroyed eggs and fodder. 

“The bird flu virus is spreading. We are continuing to slaughter infected chicken,” said DLO chief Jagadhish Pandey. He said more samples from Kakadvitta and Bhadrapur were sent to the office concerned for a test. Bhadrapur, Maheshpur, Gauriganj and Taghandubba and bordering areas are at risk of the disease, said Pandey.  Earlier, traces of the bird flu virus were found at Bahundangi, Mechinagar-10, Chandragadi-4 and Kumarkhod-6 in Jhapa. 

The H7N9 strain was detected at Anarmani-1 three months ago. 

Source: Kantipur Daily, 10th April, 2013

 

Bird flu confirmed in Taplejung VDC

Bird flu confirmed in Taplejung VDC

TAPLEJUNG, APR 08 - 

After authorities confirmed bird flu in Taplejung , a rapid response team of the District Livestock Office (DLO) slaughtered chicken and destroyed fodder and eggs at various poultry farms at Phungling VDC-3 in the district.

Samples from the farms owned by Khadga Palungwa, Prakash Limbu and Man Kumar Gurung were sent to the Central Veterinary Lab (CVL) in Kathmandu for a test after chicken started dying. The CVL confirmed the disease on April 3. 

In the wake of bird flu , the team started inspecting other poultry farms. Taplejung has banned the sale of chicken meat.  

Meanwhile, bird flu was confirmed at various poultry farms in Jhapa on Saturday. Chief of Jhapa DLO Jagadhish Pandey said the CVL confirmed avian influenza at poultry farms at Chandragadi-4 and Kumarkhod-6.

Source: The Kantipur Daily

भाइरल ज्वरोले मृत्यु

स्रोत: कान्तिपुर दैनिक, चैत्र 26, 2069