Bangladesh - 36 dead from Nipah Virus

[alert]

Re: 19 died, others fall sick of unknown disease in Bangladesh- report it's Nipah

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=172896

Encephalitis claims 4 more
Lab test confirms Nipah virus causing the disease; bats are natural hosts of the virus; can spread disease thru' date juice
Star Report The government has confirmed the disease that claimed at least 20 people in Lalmonirhat and Rangpur districts in the last four days as Nipah encephalitis, caused by Nipah virus.

"The laboratory test has identified the virus as Nipah," said Prof Mahmudur Rahman, director of Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), yesterday.

Meanwhile, two more virologists from Dhaka went to Lalmonirhat. They will go door-to-door conducting medical inquiry until the situation improves.

A common symptom of the disease is high fever accompanied by headache and vomiting. The disease causes inflammation of brain, and bats are natural hosts of the virus, said the doctors of IEDCR.

They also advised caution while drinking raw date juice as bats usually drink date juice at night.

The virus can transmit among humans through the saliva, urine and stools of infected bats, Prof Mahmudur said adding, boiled date juice can be taken.

The disease can pass from human to human, though the rate of such infection is low, said the doctors, suggesting taking precautions such as washing hands after coming into contact with an infected person.

They also advised not to use patient's bed, and to wash patient's clothes separately. Patient's spit, cough and excreta will have to be dumped into the ground, they added.

Meantime, four more people died of the disease in Lalmonirhat and Rangpur yesterday and Thursday night, raising the death toll to 20, reports our Lalmonirhat and Rangpur correspondents.

Two more people-- Israt Jahan, 15, and Lamia, 2, of South Kolkond village in Gangachara upazila of Rangpur--have been found infected with the disease. They were admitted to Rangpur Medical College Hospital yesterday.

The dead were identified as Bachchu Miah, 56, of Baraipara village; Joynal, 42, of South Goddimari; and Asadul Islam, 18, of Gendukuri village in Hatibandha upazila of Lalmonirhat and Lubna, 14, of South Kolkan village in Gangachara upazila of Rangpur.

Of them, Bachchu and Joynal died at Hatibandha Upazila Health Complex at about 11:30pm on Thursday and Asadul died at Rangpur Medical College Hospital early hours yesterday and Lubna at her residence around 12:00noon.

A three-member medical team led by Civil Surgeon of Rangpur Rejaul Karim visited the house of Lubna yesterday morning.

Nipah was first reported in the country in 2001. A total of 152 people have been infected by the disease from 2001 to January 31, 2011. Of the infected, 113 people died. In Bangladesh, two types of encephalitis--Japanese and Nipah--are common, IEDCR sources said.

The case fatality (the percentage of people who got the disease and did not survive) rate of the Nipah virus in Bangladesh is 75 percent. No vaccine against the disease has yet been developed, but the fatality can be reduced through symptom control or general management, they said

[Treyfish]

Re: 20 died, others fall sick of disease in Bangladesh- report it's Nipah

Nipah virus identified as culprit for deaths

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Saturday, 05 February 2011 <!--edited by HASAN-->
Author / Source : STAFF REPORTER & AGENCIES


DHAKA, Feb 4: The deadly Nipah virus has been identified as the culprit behind the mysterious disease that claimed more than a dozen lives in Lalmonirhat, over the last few days. Mahmudur Rahman, the director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), confirmed the finding.
According to Rahman, the disease is referred to as encephalitis, in medical terminology and leads to inflammations in an affected person's brain. The virus spreads through consumption of date palm juices or fruits half-eaten by infected fruit bats. The official death toll has been pegged at 14, while 22 others have been identified as infected, till Friday evening. Rahman waved aside media reports that claimed a higher death toll, terming them as speculative.
However, area residents claimed that at least 19 people have died, as of Friday. Bimal Kumar Roy, a physician at Hatibandha Upazila Health Complex, put the number of those infected at 50.
Meanwhile, the civil surgeon of Lalmonirhat said that a team of experts, from Dhaka, was working to contain the outbreak, along with area health workers.
The disease, experts said, is quite common in regions like south-west Faridpur, Madaripur and Rajbari. The government already has monitoring mechanisms in place, in these areas.
According to experts, the virus spreads mostly during the period between December and April, when jars are fixed to date palm trees, to collect juice. The virus spreads when infected bats perch on the jars and leave saliva and droppings, containing the deadly virus, into the juice.

The virus enters the human body when someone drinks contaminated date palm juice and is then freely transmitted among human beings. Scientists at the IEDCR have already advised against drinking unprocessed date extracts, to prevent the spread of the disease, which has a 75% mortality rate.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there is no treatment or vaccine available for the disease. In Bangladesh, half of the cases reported between 2001 and 2008, were caused by human-to-human transmission of the Nipah virus, a WHO document noted.
According to Rahman, the virus claimed 113 lives between 2001 and January 2011. The most severe outbreak was in 2004, he added.http://www.theindependentbd.com/pape...or-deaths.html

[Treyfish]

Re: 20 died, others fall sick of disease in Bangladesh- report it's Nipah

20 die in 4 days in Lalmonirhat

Font size:
IEDCR says encephalitis caused by nipah virus

Sajia Afrin
The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research on Friday identified the disease that killed three more people in Lalmonirhat on the day as encephalitis, acute brain inflammation, caused by nipah virus. So far 20 people died of the disease in the place in four days, according to an unofficial figure.
The IEDCR director, Mahmudur Rahman, said, ?After a laboratory test, we have confirmed that the people were suffering from encephalitis caused by nipah virus.?
The IEDCR, however, said 22 people were infected with the virus and 14 of them died till Friday.
Death rate of nipah virus is very high, said Mahmudur Rahman adding that three in four such patients died from the infection.
Reports from Hatibandha in the district said that more than 50 others, mostly children, contracted the disease, panicking people in the locality.
The people who died on Friday were Bacchu Mia, 57, of Baraipara, Asadul Islam, 18, of Gendukuri and Joynal, 42, of Dakkhin Goddimari in the upazila.
An eight-member IEDCR team was visiting the area. The team leader Subodh Kumar Kunda, principal scientific officer at the IEDCR, said that it is a contagious disease and has no specific treatment.
The local people on Friday morning, meanwhile, organised a human chain in front of the upazila health complex demanding immediate identification of the disease and take steps against the disease.
ASM Alamgir, senior scientific officer at the IEDCR, said there is no effective medicine or vaccine available to treat the patient infected by nipah virus. Creating awareness of the disease is main step which can prevent the disease.
Symptoms appear with fever followed by altered mental status, seizure and death, IEDCR experts said. They suggested that people in affected areas with such symptoms should see doctors.
The virus is highly infectious and has the potential to pass from person to person, they added.
The IEDCR experts advised people in the areas where nipah infection was prevalent areas not to eat fruit bitten or half-bitten by fruit bats, or drink raw juices of palm and date trees. They also suggested that date juice should not be collected in open pitchers.
According to experts, most of the nipah infection cases were reported between January and May. This is the breeding period of fruit bats and pregnant bats harbour the virus and possibly transmit it to humans.
When children collect fruits and eat them without washing, the virus discharged from bat?s saliva is transmitted to them.
Experts also urged the parents of the nipah-prone areas not to allow their children to play under fruit trees.
Five people were infected with the virus in January and four of them died according to the IEDCR.
One hundred and fifty-two cases of nipah infection were reported in the country after 2001 and 113 of them died, IEDCR officials said.http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/frontpage/7681.html

[Treyfish]

Re: 20 died, others fall sick of disease in Bangladesh- report it's Nipah

Saturday, February 5, 2011
<FIELDSET><!--

-->Encephalitis claims another life



</FIELDSET>
Star Online Report
Nipah encephalitis claimed life of another child at Rangpur Medical College Hospital Friday night, raising the death toll from the disease to 21.

Swarna, 4, daughter of Jahangir of Dakshin Goddimari village in Hatibandha upazila of Lalmonirhat died at about 9:00pm, reports our Rangpur correspondent.

She was admitted to RMCH on Tuesday with high fever.

Meanwhile, local administration has declared all the schools of Hatibandha upazila closed for six days from Saturday to control the spread of the disease.

Hospital sources said 24 encephalitis-infected people are now undergoing treatment at RMCH, Gangachara Upazila Health Complex of Rangpur and Hatibandha Upazila Health Complex of Lalmonirhat at present.

The government has confirmed the disease as Nipah encephalitis after a laboratory test, which mainly spread to Hatibandha upazila and its bordering Gangachara area.

The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), advised caution while drinking raw date juice as bats, which are natural hosts of the disease, usually drink date juice at nighthttp://www.thedailystar.net/newDesig....php?nid=28304

[Laidback Al]

Re: 20 died, others fall sick of disease in Bangladesh- report it's Nipah

Saturday, February 5, 2011

The government has confirmed the disease as Nipah encephalitis after a laboratory test, which mainly spread to Hatibandha upazila and its bordering Gangachara area.

Regional location map

[alert]

Re: 20 died, others fall sick of disease in Bangladesh- report it's Nipah

http://www.promedmail.org/pls/apex/f?p=2400:1001:1071419937686418::NO::F2400_P1001_BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,86951

Archive Number 20110204.0408
Published Date 04-FEB-2011
Subject PRO/AH/EDR> Undiagnosed encephalitis - Bangladesh (02): (RP), Nipah virus conf.

UNDIAGNOSED ENCEPHALITIS - BANGLADESH (02): (RANGPUR) NIPAH VIRUS CONFIRMED
************************************************** *************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Date: Fri 4 Feb 2011
Source: The Daily Star [edited]
<http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=28294>


The government on Friday [4 Feb 2011] confirmed the disease as Nipah
virus encephalitis that claimed at least 21 people over the last few
days in Lalmonirhat and Rangpur. It means inflammation of brain and
infected rats [sic; bats] are the carrier of the disease, said
doctors at the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research
(IEDCR). They cautioned about drinking raw date juice and about bats,
saying rats [sic; bats] usually drink date juice at night. "The
laboratory test has confirmed the virus as Nipah," said Prof Mahmudur
Rahman, director of the IEDCR.

Meanwhile, 4 more people, including a 14-year-old girl, died in an
outbreak of encephalitis in northern parts of the country Lalmonirhat
and Rangpur Thursday night and Friday [3 and 4 Feb 2011], taking the
death toll to 21, report our correspondents in Lalmonirhat and Rangpur.

2 more people -- ages 15 and 2, residents of South Kolkond village in
Gangachara upazila, Rangpur -- contracted the disease on Friday [4 Feb 2011].

The IEDCR director said the virus spreads through the saliva, urine
and stools of the infected rats [sic; bats].

The latest deceased were identified as a person aged 56, of Baraipara
village; a person age 42, of South Goddimari; and a 3rd person age
18, of Gendukuri, village in Hatibandha upazila of Lalmonirhat and a
4th person age 14, of South Kolkan village under in Gangachara
upazila of Rangpur.

A 3-member medical team led by civil surgeon of Rangpur Rejaul Karim
visited the house of one victim in the morning.

The residents of Hatibandha and Gangachara upazilas have been
terrified with the outbreak of the virus and many of them left their houses.

--
Communicated by:
Health Map Alerts via ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[This is the annual Nipah virus transmission season. Unsurprisingly,
the "unknown disease" has now been confirmed as due to Nipah virus
infections. Now there are cases of Nipah virus infection with deaths
going on in 2 localities in Bangladesh. Clearly, a public education
campaign is needed in villages to keep fruit bats away from palm
juice and discourage people (especially children) from eating fruit
on which bats have been feeding.

Mod.CP provided a good summary of Nipah virus transmission and
epidemiology in ProMED-mail archive number 20100122.0250. 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.

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: 20 died, others fall sick of disease in Bangladesh- report it's Nipah

Historically;

2001 April ? May, Meherpur district, Bangladesh: 13 cases with nine fatalities (69% mortality).[22]

2003 January, Naogaon district, Bangladesh: 12 cases with eight fatalities (67% mortality).[22]

2004 January ? February, Manikganj and Rajbari provinces, Bangladesh: 42 cases with 14 fatalities (33% mortality).

2004 19 February ? 16 April, Faridpur district, Bangladesh: 36 cases with 27 fatalities (75% mortality). Epidemiological evidence strongly suggests that this outbreak involved person-to-person transmission of Nipah virus, which had not previously been confirmed.[23] 92% of cases involved close contact with at least one other person infected with Nipah virus. Two cases involved a single short exposure to an ill patient, including a rickshaw driver who transported a patient to hospital. In addition, at least six cases involved acute respiratory distress syndrome which has not been reported previously for Nipah virus illness in humans. This symptom is likely to have assisted human-to-human transmission through large droplet dispersal.

2005 January, Tangail district, Bangladesh: 12 cases with 11 fatalities (92% mortality). The virus was probably contracted from drinking date palm juice contaminated by fruit bat droppings or saliva.[24]

2011 February- till: The outbreak of Nipah Virus is occurred at Hatibanda, Lalmonirhat, Bangladesh on the onset of 2011. There have a record of 21 school childrens death due to infection of Nipah virus on 4th February, 2011. IEDCR has confirmed the infection is due to this virus [27]. Local schools are declared for one week leave to prevent the spread. However, people are also requested to avoid consumption of fruits or fruit products (e.g. raw date palm juice) contaminated with urine or saliva from infected fruit bats was the most likely source of infection.[28]

Eleven isolated cases of Nipah virus encephalitis have also been documented in Bangladesh since 2001.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henipavirus#Nipah_virus

Wiki references:
22.^ a b Hsu VP, Hossain MJ, Parashar UD, et al. (2004). "Nipah virus encephalitis reemergence, Bangladesh". Emerging Infect. Dis. 10 (12): 2082?7. PMID 15663842. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol10no12/04-0701.htm.
23.^ ICDDR,B (2004). "Nipah encephalitis outbreak over wide area of Western Bangladesh". Health and Science Bulletin 2 (1): 7?11. http://www.icddrb.org/pub/publicatio...sificationID=0.
24.^ ICDDR,B (2005). "Nipah virus outbreak from date palm juice". Health and Science Bulletin 3 (4): 1?5. http://www.icddrb.org/pub/publicatio...=56&pubID=6590.
27.^ http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesig....php?nid=28294
28.^ http://www.prothom-alo.com/detail/da...04/news/128856

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: 20 died, others fall sick of disease in Bangladesh- report it's Nipah

Official confirmation now stands at 15 fatalities from 23 cases in this outbreak.

http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=186491&cid=2

[Vibrant62]

Re: 21 died, others fall sick of disease in Bangladesh- report it's Nipah

The post above states

"There have a record of 21 school childrens death due to infection of Nipah virus on 4th February, 2011. "

New reports indicate deaths in older adults - so are we given to understand that these are additional to the school children referred to above?

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: 21 died, others fall sick of disease in Bangladesh- report it's Nipah

I believe that that is a misinterpretation of the reports by the wikipedia editor. As a current event, that entry may be altered as updates are made.

[Treyfish]

Re: Bangladesh - 21 dead from Nipah Virus

<TABLE class=dtback border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=636 align=center><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#ffffff colSpan=2><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=10 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD width=631><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=621 align=center><TBODY><TR><TD class=dotbb height=30 vAlign=top width=508>Nipah turns nightmare
</TD><TD class=dotbb vAlign=top width=54>
</TD><TD class=dotbb vAlign=top width=54>
</TD></TR><TR vAlign=center><TD height=29 colSpan=3><TABLE border=0 width=620><TBODY><TR><TD class=body01 width=288>Sat, Feb 5th, 2011 7:49 pm BdST
</TD><TD style="FONT-SIZE: 11px" class=warn width=322>

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#ffffff colSpan=2><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=5 cellPadding=0 width=631 align=center><TBODY><TR><TD height=43 vAlign=top width=528>Nurul Islam Hasib

Dhaka, Feb 5 (bdnews24.com) ? Nipah has become a nightmare in border district Lalmonirhat of northern Bangladesh as experts grapple to arrest its spread.

Death toll of the fatal virus climed to 16 on Saturday from 14, although no new cases have been reported till evening.

People are still deserting their homes in panic while the local authorities shut down all primary schools at Hatiabandha upazila, which has witnessed the recent outbreak.

"Even ambulance drivers fled the village. We are trying to convince people aking them not to panic and stop drinking raw palm or date sap," said Dr Farhana Haque, an investigator of the government's team despatched to the upazila on February 2 soon after the outbreak.

The government sent more scientists to the affected area soon after the cause behind what was being called 'mystery fever' was ascertained by the Institute of Epidemiology and Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).

But people's long-standing practice and beliefs are making the task of this team rather difficult.

"We have to keep an eye on everybody who drank raw sap in the last one month," said the team leader Subodh Kumar Kundo.

The virus usually takes eight to 12 days between exposure and manifesting symptoms ? fever, altered mental status and seizure.

But sometimes it can take unusual time, said Kundo, adding that those who handled corpses are also under observation.

Tracking the history of nipah virus in Bangladesh, bdnews24.com found that it is highly contagious and may be passed on with minimal human-to-human contact.

Deaths in Faridpur in January 2010 showed that the victims were infected because they were not careful while caring for patients.

A joint investigation of the epidemiology institute and the diarroehal disease centre (ICDDR,B) showed a man, who cared for his infected friend and shared the bed, was found to have become infected.

A wife also got the virus while caring, feeding, comforting, transporting her husband. An uncle of a deceased got the virus as he hugged the corpse.

A neighbour who washed a Nipah affected corpse, cleaned the frothy discharge and excreta also got the virus.

An intern doctor in Faridpur Medical College Hospital also died as he conducted physical examination of the two confirmed Nipah cases.

But such infection can be prevented by washing hands frequently, not sharing the same food and remaining at least three feet away from patients while caring for them. The caregivers should also wear masks as they treat the patients, experts say.

"Health care providers should wash hands and use personal protective equipment while caring for severely ill patients in Nipah prone area."

He said they would continue strong monitoring in Hatibandha even 21 days after the outbreak stops.

But he cautioned that 'over enthusiasm' can trigger further panic.

"School closure was not necessary as there is nothing related to school boys," said Rahman, adding that the virus had not begun spreading from person to person contact.

"Such a decision (school closure) can only generate panic among the people," he said urging local administration to take decision consulting with the government experts posted there.

Kundo said they are getting response from different organisations. Local NGOs, as well as development agencies joined hands in distributing leaflets with awareness messages.

He said as there is no specific treatment, medical attention could save patients that infuse negative impression among the people of the affected areas.

"We are disseminating general information and also trying to make them understand through different modes of communication."

"Our anthropologists are working to learn in-depth about their perception and beliefs. We are talking with community leaders, religious leaders, teachers, and families," he said.

Anthropologists say people generally believe that evil spirit has entered their community causing the illness.

They interpreted the illness as 'asmani bala' (divine burden). Some people of the community even have the perception that bats cannot contaminate raw date or palm sap. And do not believe it could be transmitted from person to person.

"We have to develop a rapport and earn their trust. We let them to talk first and give them space to express their emotions or complaints," said ICDDR,B anthropologist Shahana Parveen.

"With the respect of cultural norms and local practice, we make people understand what it actually is and what they should do."

"We held a courtyard meeting today to sensitise the idea that germs were responsible for the illness and deaths, using local terms and familiar examples," Farhana Haque said, adding that the participants responded positively after being given an explanation with evidence.

The first case of the recent outbreak was reported on January 31 with deaths from mystery fever.

http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?cid=2&id=186519&hb=1

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[Treyfish]

Re: Bangladesh - 21 dead from Nipah Virus

Saturday, February 5, 2011
<FIELDSET><!--

-->4 more die of encephalitis



</FIELDSET>
<SMALL class=fixedcap>Source: Wikipedia</SMALL>Star Online Report
Nipah encephalitis claimed four more lives in Rangpur and Lalmonirhat Friday night and Saturday, raising the death toll from the disease to 24.

The deceased are Mansur Ali, 42, Swarna, 4, daughter of Jahangir, and Mahbub, 16, son of Nozir Ali of Dakshin Goddimari village in Hatibandha upazila of Lalmonirhat and Insan Ali of Mirbag in Kaunia upazila of Rangpur.

Mansur was first taken to a local clinic, Modern Clinic, but was denied admission. Then he was rushed to Rangpur Medical College Hospital where he died at about 7:10pm.

Swarna died at Rangpur Medical College Hospital at 9:00pm Friday while Mahbub at 12:30pm Saturday, RMCH director Toufiqur Rahman confirmed it to The Daily Star.

Insan Ali breathed his last at his Mirbag residence at about 4:30am, said the local health officer.

Meanwhile, local administration has declared all the schools of Hatibandha upazila closed for six days from Saturday to control the spread of the disease.

Hospital sources said 24 encephalitis-infected people are now undergoing treatment at RMCH, Gangachara Upazila Health Complex of Rangpur and Hatibandha Upazila Health Complex of Lalmonirhat at present.

Condition of two patients admitted to RMCH is said to be critical, hospital sources said.

The government has confirmed the disease as Nipah encephalitis after a laboratory test, which mainly spread to the two districts.

The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), advised caution while drinking raw date juice as bats, which are natural hosts of the disease, usually drink date juice at nighthttp://www.thedailystar.net/newDesig....php?nid=28304

[Treyfish]

Re: Bangladesh - 21 dead from Nipah Virus

People are infected when they drink the raw juice. Thereafter, the virus spreads through person to person contact.http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=186508&cid=13

[Tonka]

Re: Bangladesh - 21 dead from Nipah Virus

http://www.thanhnien.com.vn/News/Pages/201106/20110205181939.aspx

Vietnamese to English translation

Nipah virus back to Bangladesh, killing 15 people
05/02/2011 18:19

Pigs are the intermediate species transmission of Nipah virus - Reuters
(TNO) Government of Bangladesh on 5.2 admits is extremely dangerous type of Nipah virus has returned to this country and the killing of at least 15 people in a remote town in the north, according to AFP.
Nipah virus causes flu-like symptoms, leading to encephalitis and coma with death rates up to 70% of patients in this South Asian nation.

The latest outbreaks have occurred in certification Hatibandha Lalmonirhat district. "So far, we have recorded 24 human Nipah virus infection in Hatibandha", Muhmudur Rahman, a senior health official of Bangladesh said.

"Among those patients, 15 people were killed and many people are in critical condition," the official said.

At least 113 people, including the latest victim was killed due to Nipah virus infection since the first outbreak in 2001.

The government in Dhaka has established a laboratory to enable early detection of any outbreak of any virus in this country.

In 2004, nearly 40 people were killed in two central districts of Bangladesh, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention America has been mobilized to deal with outbreaks that year.

Nipah name comes from the name of a village in Malaysia where the virus first appeared. Derived from fruit eating bats, Nipah virus transmission to pigs and then people in May 10.1998.

Normal people infected by direct contact with sick pigs.

In 1999, 256 people Malaysia Nipah virus infection, causing 105 deaths and more than 1 million pigs have been destroyed.

[alert]

Re: Bangladesh - 21 dead from Nipah Virus

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=28304

Nipah encephalitis claimed four more lives in Rangpur and Lalmonirhat Friday night and Saturday, raising the death toll from the disease to 24.

The deceased are Mansur Ali, 42, Swarna, 4, daughter of Jahangir, and Mahbub, 16, son of Nozir Ali of Dakshin Goddimari village in Hatibandha upazila of Lalmonirhat and Insan Ali of Mirbag in Kaunia upazila of Rangpur.


Mansur was first taken to a local clinic, Modern Clinic, but was denied admission. Then he was rushed to Rangpur Medical College Hospital where he died at about 7:10pm.


Swarna died at Rangpur Medical College Hospital at 9:00pm Friday while Mahbub at 12:30pm Saturday, RMCH director Toufiqur Rahman confirmed it to The Daily Star.


Insan Ali breathed his last at his Mirbag residence at about 4:30am, said the local health officer.


Meanwhile, local administration has declared all the schools of Hatibandha upazila closed for six days from Saturday to control the spread of the disease.


Hospital sources said 24 encephalitis-infected people are now undergoing treatment at RMCH, Gangachara Upazila Health Complex of Rangpur and Hatibandha Upazila Health Complex of Lalmonirhat at present.


Condition of two patients admitted to RMCH is said to be critical, hospital sources said.


The government has confirmed the disease as Nipah encephalitis after a laboratory test, which mainly spread to the two districts.


The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), advised caution while drinking raw date juice as bats, which are natural hosts of the disease, usually drink date juice at night.