KATHMANDU, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Nepal is witnessing 40,000 additional tuberculosis (TB) patients each year, the National News Agency RSS reported on Sunday.

    According to the report, 5,000 to 7,000 in Nepal are dying of the disease every year, and 45 percent of the total population of Nepal is ailing from the disease.

    Tuberculosis is found to have attacked one in every three persons and one in every 10 persons are vulnerable to the disease in the country, the report said.

    In the central development region in the country, altogether 3,963 people, including 1,439 women, were found to have suffered from TB in the current fiscal year 2006/07 ending in mid-July, according to report.