KATHMANDU, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- At least five persons have been killed and about 5,000 have fallen ill due to a disease that is similar to viral fever in Chitwan in central Nepal in the past onemonth, Nagarik daily reported Thursday.

    Although, doctors had initially suspected the disease to be viral fever and used medication for the same, the symptoms shown by the patients are quite different to most cases of viral fever, the report said.

    Patients have shown symptoms like body ache, high fever, vomiting, reduction of White Blood Cell in blood, and swelling of chest and gall bladder. The disease was mostly seen in women at the age of 18-35.

    According to Dr Shital Adhikari of Chitwan Medical College, thenumber of new patients has decreased lately, but the threat still persists as the disease has not been identified.

    Epidemiology and Disease Control Division has collected samplesfrom the patients and sent them abroad for further tests as tests conducted here could not establish the reason of the illness.