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Archive Number 20110204.0402
Published Date 04-FEB-2011
Subject PRO/AH/EDR> Nipah virus, fatal - Bangladesh: (FR)
NIPAH VIRUS, FATAL - BANGLADESH: (FARIDPUR)
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A ProMED-mail post
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ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Mon 24 Jan 2011
Source: Dhaka Mirror, New Age report [edited]
<http://www.dhakamirror.com/?p=25180#more-25180>
The director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and
Research [IEDCR], Mahmudur Rahman, on Sunday [23 Jan 2011] said that 5
people were infected with the Nipah virus in Faridpur and Rajbari
districts and 4 of them died this month [January 2011]. The death rate
of victims of the Nipah virus is very high, he said, as around 75 per
cent of the infected people do not survive. Mahmudur urged the people
not to panic as the disease is now almost under control and they are
vigilantly monitoring the situation.
A total of 152 people were infected with the Nipah virus across the
country since 2001, of whom 113 died, said IEDCR officials. The
virologists advise people in the Nipah-prevalent areas not to eat
fruits that have been bitten by fruit bats, or drink the raw juices of
palm and date trees. Heat kills the Nipah virus, said experts, so if
the juices are boiled they can do no harm to consumers. They also
suggested that date juice should not be kept in open pitchers.
According to experts, most of the Nipah virus infection cases last
year [2010] were reported from January to May. This is the breeding
period of fruit bats and pregnant bats harbour this virus and probably
transmit it to humans. When children collect fruits and eat them
without washing, the virus discharged from bats' saliva is transmitted
to them. Experts also urged the parents in Nipah-prone areas not to
allow their children to play under fruit trees.
Mahmudur stressed the need for creating awareness of the virus among
the country's people, especially villagers. At the same time
government should set up a separate unit and introduce protective
measures for treating Nipah virus victims in the hospitals, he said.
In 2004 a doctor and in 2010 an intern doctor, after being infected
by the patients at the hospitals, were killed by Nipah virus
[infection].
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[There were cases of Nipah virus infection in this same area a year
ago (January 2010; see ProMED-mail archive number 20100122.0250] . In
addition to boiling palm juice, local villagers can construct bamboo
skirts to deny fruit bat access to palm juice collection pots. It
would be of interest to know what measures have been taken to bring
transmission under control, other than the information provided to the
villagers.
Mod.CP provided a good summary of Nipah virus transmission and
epidemiology in the ProMED-mail archive mentioned above. Unlike the
initial Nipah outbreak in Malaysia, human cases in Bangladesh do not
involve pigs, transmission being from _Pteropus_ fruit bats to humans
via contaminated fruit or palm juice.
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