Fresh rainfall threatens to spread encephalitis in Nepal

Doctors fighting an outbreak of Japanese encephalitis in western Nepal said that fresh rainfall overnight threatened spread of the disease.

Doctors fighting an outbreak of Japanese encephalitis in western Nepal today said that fresh rainfall overnight threatened to spread the disease, which has already killed at least 271 people in the country this year.

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Cooler weather in the southern plain areas of this Himalayan kingdom and the end of the monsoon season have helped control the disease, but the latest downpour could provide breeding grounds for mosquitos which spread the disease.

"Because of the fresh rain, we are expecting some new cases to arrive in the next couple of days," said Dr Ganesh Bahadur Singh, chief of Seti Hospital in Dhangadi, about 600 kilometres west of the capital, Kathmandu.

The outbreak of the disease has killed atleast 1,038 people across South Asia, most of them children.

Japanese encephalitis has sickened 1,665 people this year in Nepal and killed at least 271, according to government figures.

The government has sent medical teams and thousands of mosquito nets to affected areas.

Japanese encephalitis causes swelling of the brain.