More than two dozen people have died and hundreds have been affected by viral fever in the past few months in the district of Jajarkot in mid-western Nepal, which is located about 400 km west of Kathmandu.

Scrub typhus, a bacterial disease endemic to many countries of Asia-Pacific region, including India and China, has now increasingly been reported in Nepal.

The flow of patients with influenza-like-illness (ILI) has been increasing throughout the country. Dozens of patients are visiting the Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital in Teku each day for the treatment of such flu like cases.

The global HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) epidemic claimed fewer lives in 2015 than at any point in almost two decades.

Last November, New Delhi was forced to declare an emergency because air pollution became so bad that schools had to be closed for three days.

Public awareness, case identification, and rodent control are cardinal steps to prevent a scrub typhus outbreak

HIV infections should be treated immediately instead of waiting for signs of illness