Diarrhoea outbreak at Jaleshwor Municipality 12 in Mahottari district has killed a child and left scores of others ill over the past week.

Four-year-old Khusbu Khatun died of the water-borne disease on September 15. Three children and a pregnant woman are in a critical condition and receiving treatment at the district hospital. According to locals, more than 160 people fell ill as the disease spread in the clustered Muslim settlement. Children below five and elderly people are more prone to get infected by the disease.

Dr Rajiv Jha, chief of District Public Health Office (DPHO), said locals informed the authority two days after the outbreak of diarrhoea in the settlement. “We have dispatched a medical team under Dr Alok Jha to the affected area,” said Dr Rajiv. The health office has been organising a health camp at a local Madrasa since Tuesday.