Woman dies from brain-damaging Nipah virus in Bangladesh
A patient in Bangladesh died after contracting Nipah virus last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
A small outbreak of the rare, brain-damaging virus flared in India in late January, sparking fears of an epidemic.
WHO said Friday that the patient in Rajshahi first showed symptoms on January 21, including a fever and neurological problems.
The patient, aged between 40 and 50, also exhibited hypersalivation, disorientation and convulsion.
Doctors confirmed she had Nipah virus after she was admitted to the hospital on January 28, where a team collected throat and blood samples.
What is Nipah virus?
Nipah virus persists in fruit bats across South and Southeast Asia and can spread to humans through contact with bodily fluids.
The virus, sometimes called NiV, was first identified during an outbreak in 1998 among pig farmers in Malaysia, where it killed over 100 people.
Symptoms can develop up to 21 days after infection. They include flu-like symptoms, such as fevers, body aches and vomiting.
Over time, however, it can cause respiratory syndrome and encephalitis, or brain inflammation.
Between 45% and 70% the people who are infected die. It has no vaccine and no cure.
Health officials said the patient had not travelled but eaten date palm sap, which can be infected by bats carrying the virus, earlier that month.
All 35 people who had contact with her are being monitored and have tested negative for the virus.
Bangladesh’s Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research confirmed to local news outlets bdnews24.com that this was the country’s first death from Nipah virus this year.
Neighbouring India reported two cases of Nipah in West Nepal last month.
Indian health officials aren’t sure how the pair became infected, but suspect they may have had sap while visiting the village of Ghughragachhi.
Countries including Thailand, Nepal, Taiwan and Pakistan have rolled out Covid-style health checks in airports to help contain Nipah.
Bangladesh banned the sale of date palm in 2011 amid a Nipah outbreak and has seen several infection waves in the years since.
WHO said: ‘Bangladesh regularly has small NiV outbreaks, with cases reported at different times of the year, though outbreaks tend to occur between December and April, corresponding with the harvesting and consumption of date palm sap.’
Harvesters, called gachis, climb date trees and shave the bark and leave clay pots to collect the sap.
But the fluid attracts fruit bats, which lap up the sap and may urinate or defecate in the pots, spreading the virus.
WHO stressed that the risk of the virus spiralling into a pandemic – a disease that has spread worldwide – is low.
Dr Kaja Abbas, an associate professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told Metro that the UK doesn’t have too much to worry about right now either.
He said: ‘The case fatality rate is high, between 40% and 75%, among people infected with the Nipah virus.
‘However, the basic reproduction number (expected number of secondary infections from a primary case) for the Nipah virus is typically below one, suggesting limited human-to-human transmission and a low likelihood of widespread pandemic spread.’
What is the UK’s current guidance around Nipah virus?
To travellers, the UK Health Security Agency recommends people:
- Practice good hand hygiene.
- Avoid contact with bats and their environments, especially sick bats
- Don’t consume raw or partially fermented date palm sap – always boil date palm juice first
- Wash all fruit thoroughly with clean water and peel before eating
- Wear protective clothing and gloves when handling sick animals and during slaughter and culling procedures.
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