Kathmandu, Aug. 22 -- As many as 5,017 people have tested positive for scrub typhus in Nepal since January, data provided by the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, show.

Some people infected with the life-threatening disease have succumbed to the infection, but the actual number is not known, as most health facilities across the country lack a proper system to determine the cause of death.

"People may have died from complications caused by scrub typhus, but doctors often report that patients died of multi-organ failure," said Dr Gokarna Dahal, chief of the Vector Control Section at the division. "Due to a lack of a proper system to confirm causes of deaths, we are not in a position to say how many deaths were caused by scrub typ...