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’s Nipah virus?
Nipah virus persists in fruit bats across South and Southeast Asia and might spread to humans through contact with bodily fluids.
The virus, sometimes called NiV, was first identified during an outbreak in 1998 amongst pig farmers in Malaysia, where it killed over 100 people.
Symptoms can develop as much as 21 days after infection. They include flu-like symptoms, reminiscent of fevers, body aches and vomiting.
Over time, nonetheless, it might cause respiratory syndrome and encephalitis, or brain inflammation.
Between 45% and 70% the people who’re infected die. It has no vaccine and no cure.
Health officials said the patient had not travelled but eaten date palm sap, which will be infected by bats carrying the virus, earlier that month.
All 35 individuals who had contact together 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 12 months.
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 could 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 assist contain Nipah.
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Bangladesh banned the sale of date palm in 2011 amid a Nipah outbreak and has seen several infection waves within the years since.
WHO said: ‘Bangladesh frequently has small NiV outbreaks, with cases reported at different times of the 12 months, though outbreaks are inclined 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 gather the sap.
However the fluid attracts fruit bats, which lap up the sap and will urinate or defecate within the pots, spreading the virus.
WHO stressed that the chance of the virus spiralling right into a pandemic – a disease that has spread worldwide – is low.
Dr Kaja Abbas, an associate professor on the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told Metro that the UK doesn’t have an excessive amount of to fret about right away either.
He said: ‘The case fatality rate is high, between 40% and 75%, amongst people infected with the Nipah virus.
‘Nonetheless, the essential reproduction number (expected variety of secondary infections from a primary case) for the Nipah virus is usually below one, suggesting limited human-to-human transmission and a low likelihood of widespread pandemic spread.’
What’s 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 devour raw or partially fermented date palm sap – at all times 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 through slaughter and culling procedures.
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