Kathmandu, June 15 -- The monsoon has yet to set in, but Nepal has already recorded over 900 dengue infections this year. The mosquito-borne disease has been reported in 68 of the country's 77 districts.

What alarms health officials is that a high number of cases have been reported from densely populated areas, including the Kathmandu Valley, as well as Chitwan, Kaski, and Jhapa districts.

"Cases of dengue infection could surge after the monsoon rains start," said Dr Gokarna Dahal, chief of Vector Control Section at the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division. "We have alerted health workers and other agencies concerned to the risk of a large-scale outbreak."

Dengue is a viral disease transmitted by female Aedes aegypti and Aedes alb...