24 killed by viral influenza in mid-western Nepal
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-01-14 13:48

As many as 24 people have died and several others were affected by viral influenza in the remote hilly areas of Humla district in the past few days, the state- owned Radio Nepal reported Saturday.

Severe cold has gripped some villages in the district, some 700 km west of Kathmandu, is also facing the shortage of medicines, the report said.

Meanwhile, the cold wave, which has been continuing in the Terai belt of central Nepal since the beginning of January, has claimed 17 lives.

A pneumonia epidemic has gripped the Terai belt as a result of the cold wave. There is a surge of pneumonia patients at local hospitals, health posts and sub health posts, the radio said.

The cold spell has affected senior citizens and children the most, the radio quoted chief of the Gaur Hospital, Sham Shankar Thakur, as saying.