As many as 138 malaria cases have been reported in Khatyad Rural Municipality-8, 9 and 11, Mugu in the fiscal year 2017-18.

According to the District Health Office (DHO), malaria outbreak was first reported in Righa village in mid-April.

Around 120 people in the village had contracted the disease caused by Plasmodium parasite transferred to humans by mosquitoes.

Bali Bahadur Budha, the information officer at the DHO, said malaria cases in the district usually appear from August to November.

Growing malaria incidence rate has led the authorities to declare Khatyad Rural Municipality and its adjoining areas as a ‘high risk zone’.

Uttam Pyakurel, vector control officer at the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD), said Righa was particularly vulnerable to malaria because of its weather that makes it ideal for mosquito breeding and, in turn, for malaria transmission.

Last year, malaria had claimed five lives and affected 85 people in Righa.

Chief District Officer Umakanta Adhikari said the DHO had been instructed to keep medicines and health workers available to treat malaria patients.