Nipah virus: An insight into a growing concern in Bangladesh

I'm writing about Bangladesh's Nipah virus (NiV) outbreak. According to Rashad Ahamad's article "Nipah virus continues to kill in silence," which appeared in New Age Bangladesh on January 11, 2023, the nation has experienced a high death rate from NiV, with 71% of positive cases ending in death. This is the second-highest fatality rate recorded since the country first detected the disease in 2001, with rabies being the only disease with a higher death rate. According to statistics from the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control, and Research (IEDCR), there have been 231 deaths from NiV out of 326 positive cases since 2001. The most common way to get Nipah is to drink raw palm juice that has been contaminated by bat saliva or urine and then have contact with someone who has it or with food made from raw date or palm juice.This highlights the importance of education and awareness surrounding the dangers of consuming raw palm juice, as well as the need for proper sanitation and hygiene measures to prevent the spread of the virus. It is also important to note that NiV is a zoonotic disease, with bats being the natural virus host. The virus can also spread through other intermediate hosts, such as pigs and humans. This makes controlling the spread of the virus particularly challenging.1Ahamad Rashad Nipah Virus Continues to Kill in Silence. vol. 1. 2023https://www.newagebd.net/article/191459/Google Scholar Also, the NiV infection is a new vector-borne zoonotic infectious disease that can spread from animals to humans. As long as people all over the country keep drinking raw date juice, there are serious risks to public health. The virus has been detected in 32 of the 64 districts across the country so far, with the rest also at risk. Over the years, Bangladesh has experienced numerous outbreaks of the Nipah virus, one of which occurred in Meherpur in 2001 and resulted in the deaths of nine people out of a total of 13 positive cases.In 2004, 50 people died out of 67 Nipah-infected persons across the districts. The highest number of infected patients was found in the Faridpur district since the virus outbreaks in 2004 and 2011. Lalmonirhat, Naogaon, and Rajbari are also critically affected areas, with 21–30 infected patients each. Nipah virus infection can cause severe disease in both humans and animals. Clinical manifestations in humans can range from asymptomatic infection to acute respiratory syndrome and encephalitis, with a high mortality rate. There is currently no specific treatment or vaccine available for NiV, and managing the disease primarily involves supportive care.2Aditi Shariff M. Nipah virus infection: a review.Epidemiol Infect. 2019; 147: e95https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268819000086Crossref PubMed Scopus (48) Google Scholar In addition to the high mortality rate, NiV has significant socio-economic impacts. The outbreaks have led to fear and panic among the population and economic losses due to quarantine measures and the culling of infected animals. Controlling and preventing NiV outbreaks requires a multi-disciplinary approach involving surveillance, diagnosis, and management of human and animal cases, risk communication, and community engagement.3Singh R.K. Dhama K. Chakraborty S. et al.Nipah virus: epidemiology, pathology, immunobiology and advances in diagnosis, vaccine designing and control strategies - a comprehensive review.Vet Q. 2019; 39: 26-55https://doi.org/10.1080/01652176.2019.1580827Crossref PubMed Scopus (93) Google Scholar From financing organizations in the public, private, or not-for-profit sectors, this research did not get any particular grants.