Epidemic-wary Nepal bans meat in Kathmandu

Authorities in Nepal's capital have asked residents not to slaughter or consume animals and birds over fears of a pandemic in the wake of last week's devastating earthquake that rocked the Himalayan nation.

Issuing a public notice, the Kathmandu District Administration has appealed to local people not to consume meat-related food items for the time being.

The authorities believe that the selling of meat would add to sanitation and health-related complications as several agencies fear the outbreak of a pandemic.

There had been epidemic of swine flu in Jajarkot district in western Nepal some time before the earthquake and few people have also been infected in Kathmandu with the deadly H1N1 virus.

Kathmandu District Administration chief Ek Narayan Aryal have issuing a public notice said, "We have urged the locals of Kathmandu not to slaughter animals and birds keeping in view the possibility of spread of pandemic and health of the local people".

Image: A resident reads a newspaper in one the temporary street shelters near Basantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu.

Photograph: Omar Havana/Getty Images