Two weeks after the cholera outbreak in Parsa, the source of the outbreak has yet to be identified. Despite efforts from local, provincial and federal authorities, neither the spread has been fully controlled nor the origin traced.

Initially limited to Birgunj Metropolitan City, cholera has now been confirmed in Pokhariya Municipality, around 20 kilometres west of Birgunj.

According to the metropolitan office, 182 cases have been recorded in Birgunj as of Wednesday evening, with 10 patients still under treatment.

The District Health Office reported 13 confirmed cases in Pokhariya, bringing the district-wide total to 195. Altogether, 965 people have been treated for diarrhoea and cholera symptoms in Birgunj hospitals, with 55 still receiving care.

In the past 24 hours up to Wednesday evening, 51 new cases of patients with diarrhoea symptoms have been reported.

Among those under treatment, eight patients are in the Intensive Care Unit, one in the High-Dependency Unit, and 46 in general wards.

Schools in Birgunj that had been shut for more than a week and a half have reopened partially from Wednesday, resuming classes only from grade 8 and above.

Doctors said the infection rate is lower than in the early days. Dr Uday Narayan Singh, spokesperson for Narayani Hospital, said that while 50 percent of diarrhoea patients tested positive for cholera in the first four days of the outbreak, the rate has since dropped to around 10 percent.

He said the situation is not alarming but urged the public to remain alert.