Background: An outbreak investigation study was conducted in Pajaru, one of the initially affected Village
Development Committees (VDCs) of the Jajarkot district in Nepal following an outbreak of respiratory illness in early
2015. The objectives of this study were to identify the cases and magnitude of the outbreak.
Methods:A cross-sectional study was carried out in mid-April 2015 covering five most affected wards of Pajaru VDC
to assess the patients using standard case definition for Influenza like Illness (ILI). Throat and nasal swabs were collected
and sent to the National Influenza Center (NIC) in Kathmandu for laboratory confirmation.
Results: The throat swab samples tested at NIC found Influenza A H1N1 pdm09. The attack rate was calculated to
be 3% in ward number 9 and 41% in ward number 8. Wavelength of the infection was nearly two weeks in both the
wards. Nearly 54% of the specimens were positive for Influenza A H1N1 pdm09. There was no ILI case fatality in the
study area. Children aged 0-15 years were most affected. Majority of the patients presented with symptoms of fever,
cough and sore throat.