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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.
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]]>Eight of them are minors.
At least 24 patients suffering from the mysterious disease are undergoing treatment at Hatibandha Upazila Health Complex, Lalmonirhat Sadar Hospital and Rangpur Medical College Hospital, health officials at Hatibandha said.
A four-member medical team led by director of health at Rangpur Division Dr Shahadat Hossain said after visiting Hatibandha upazila Health Complex and a number of villages in the on Wednesday said that he suspected the disease to be viral encephalitis.
Not sure about the disease, he said it could as well be Nipah.
The upazila health officer Bimal Kumar Barman confirmed the deaths.
He said that they were first taken to the upazila health complex before shifting them to RMCH.
Family members as well as doctors said that at first they all had fever with the temperature increasing rapidly before their bodies became cold and they died.
The casualties include, two-year old Gourob Roy, son of Bijoy Roy of the village Tongvanga, three-year old Sajjad Hossain, son of Belal Hossain of the same village, three year old Sabina, daughter of Mokbul Hossain of the village Saniazan Char, three-year old Nishad, son of Akbor Ali of Kazir Chawra, four-year old Yasmin Akhter, daughter of Abul Hossain of Amjol,
Four-year old Anonna Ghosh, daughter of Ashok Ghosh who lives near the bus stand and her eight year old brother Aronno Ghosh, eight-year old Kajol Islam, son of Ahmed Ali of South Singimari, 32-year old Azizul Islam, son of Omor Ali of Baraipara, Rajjak Miah,32, son of Abbas Ali of Genduguri.
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