The number of patients infected with malaria, dengue, and kala-azar has been on the rise in Kailali.

In Kailali, 158 people contracted the mosquito-borne diseases in the last fiscal year. Eight suffered from dengue while six contracted leishmaniasis (kala-azar), according to data provided by the District Health Office.

“The diseases are more common among poor people,” said Uday Shankar Shah, an official at the DHO. “But the disease is spread across both urban and rural areas.”

Shah added that in many cases, people who go to India for work contract malaria there and transmit it to their families when they return home.

“The malaria virus is potent. It’s uncontrollable and hard to treat,” Shah said.

In an attempt to control malaria, health posts have been set up in Dhangadhi and along the border in Tikapur.

The district has not had malaria epidemic in recent years, thanks to the campaigns launched by the authorities to curb the mosquito-borne disease.

Shah said programmes like mosquito net distribution and vaccination are being launched every year to curb malaria outbreak.

In the current fiscal year, nine patients have been treated with dengue, while there were 29 patients in the previous fiscal year.