More than 60 persons have fallen ill after they consumed the anti-elephantiasis medicines distributed by the Dhading District Health Office (DHO) in central Nepal, local leading media group's website eKantipur reported Monday.

In Dhading district, some 70 km west of capital Kathmandu, the DHO had distributed medicines to 380,000 people of the district free of cost in the last two days.

Altogether 65 persons fell ill very soon after they consumed the medicines, the health workers said, adding that the patients are undergoing treatment in a primary health post at the village.

Medical personnel informed that the common symptoms seen among individuals after consuming anti-elephantiasis pills are nausea, headache, and vomiting and unconsciousness.

According to World Health Organization website, Elephantiasis is also called Lymphatic Filariasis, which puts at risk more than a billion people in more than 80 countries. Over 120 million have already been affected by it, over 40 million of them are seriously incapacitated and disfigured by the disease. One-third of the people infected with the disease live in India, one third are in Africa and most of the remainder are in South Asia, the Pacific and the Americas.

Source: Xinhua