Diarrhea epidemic kills scores in Nepal

KATHMANDU, Nepal, July 14 (UPI) -- Nepalese health experts were trying to contain a diarrhea epidemic in the western region, where more than 100 have already died.

A BBC report said at least 6,000 have been affected in the Jajarkot district and neighboring areas, and critics complain the government has been slow to respond to the situation even though the epidemic was first reported in mid-June.

Jajarkot is about 200 miles west of Kathmandu.

China's Xinhua news agency, citing local media reports, quoted Dr. Senendra Upreti, director of Nepalese health department's epidemiology and disease control division, as blaming hazardous and contaminated water for the epidemic.

A medical team from Kathmandu has already arrived in Jajarkot district, the Xinhua report said.

Army helicopters have been pressed into service.

The BBC reported many of those affected by the disease live in remote villages in the rugged Himalayan country. Some of their villages can be reached only on foot.

The villagers said water taps for safe drinking water had dried up, leaving them no option other than to drink contaminated water from streams and wells.