Bangladesh: 2013 Nipah Virus - 24 cases, 21 deaths

[Ronan Kelly]

Link to 2012 - http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=180445
Link to 2011 - http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=159823

Nipah virus strikes back
Nurul Islam Hasib, Senior Correspondent bdnews24.com
Published: 2013-01-23 12:11:38.0 Updated: 2013-01-23 17:35:48.0

The virus that killed nearly 80 percent of its total infections in Bangladesh has struck back killing an 8-year-old boy in Dhaka and leaving his father critically ill, the government?s disease monitoring agency, IEDCR confirms.

According to its Director, the family drank raw date sap brought from Bhaluka on Jan 11 and fell ill six days later. ?The boy succumbed on Tuesday at a Dhaka clinic and his father is in an intensive care unit,? Prof Mahmudur Rahman told bdnews24.com.

He said they were confirmed about the presence of the nipah virus in their laboratory at around 5.45pm on Wednesday.
...

http://bdnews24.com/health/2013/01/23/nipah-virus-strikes-back

[alert]

Re: Nipah virus kills child in Dhaka, infects his father

Published Date: 2013-01-24 14:54:28
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Nipah encephalitis - Bangladesh
Archive Number: 20130124.1513132

NIPAH ENCEPHALITIS - BANGLADESH
*******************************
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: Wed 23 Jan 2013Source: BDNews 24 [edited]http://bdnews24.com/health/2013/01/23/nipah-virus-strikes-back


The virus that killed nearly 80 per cent of its total infections in Bangladesh has struck back killing an 8-year-old boy in Dhaka and leaving his father critically ill, the government's disease monitoring agency, IEDCR [Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control & Research] confirms.

According to its director, the family drank raw date sap brought from Bhaluka on 11 Jan [2013] and fell ill 6 days later. "The boy succumbed on Tuesday [22 Jan 2013] at a Dhaka clinic and his father is in an intensive care unit," Prof Mahmudur Rahman told bdnews24.com.

He said [the presence of the Nipah virus was confirmed] in their laboratory at around 5.45 pm on Wednesday [23 Jan 2013].

The bat-borne Nipah virus that infects a person only after drinking raw date sap and later can pass it on to other persons through contact is a cause of public health concern in Bangladesh as it breaks out every year during January-April.

Since 2001, when it first broke out as an unknown disease, the virus has killed 136 of its 176 victims in 21 districts across Bangladesh.

"It is 100 percent preventable if we can prevent people from drinking raw date sap," the director said, "But once infected, we don't have a cure. It usually takes 7-8 days on average between exposure and signs of symptoms -- fever, altered mental status, and seizure," Prof Rahman said. He said they would watch the family where 8 members took the drink, up to 21 days.

They were also following the families who received the date sap from the same source. "We have discovered that one person from Bhaluka supplied 100 bottles of sap to families in Dhaka," he said. He could not rule out further outbreaks. "We are watchful."

Nipah virus was first detected in Malaysia in 1998 but at present Bangladesh, a hotspot for infectious diseases, is the only country in the world that reports the disease.

Though public health analysts believe that border districts of India have the virus, reports are not available from the Indian government to confirm it [see comment and reference below].

An anthropological study says drinking raw date or palm sap in the morning is an old practice in Bangladesh, especially in rural areas, where there is a general lack of hygiene.

An ICDDR,B study using infrared cameras found that fruit bats perch on the jars, put up on trees to collect the sap, and try to drink the juice. They also urinate into the pot. The _Pteropus_ bat saliva and urine carry the virus. But it gets destroyed if the sap is boiled. "The virus is killed in 70 deg C [158 deg F] temperature," Prof Rahman said.

Bangladesh first confirmed the virus in 2004 after testing samples from the US following the deaths of a number of people from an 'unknown' ailment since 2001.

Meherpur, Naogaon, Rajbarhi, Tangail, Faridpur, Manikganj, Rangpur, Kushtia, and Thakurgaon districts of the central and northwestern regions are highly vulnerable to Nipah [virus infections], according to IEDCR. When it breaks out in a place, panic runs so high that people even desert their homes en masse. The presence of the virus at Bhaluka in Mymensingh is new.

It is not clear why the virus is widespread in some districts, and why it strikes new places, but the date tree is very common in those areas.

"We did not find it in Jessore despite many date trees being there. It was because bats in that region do not carry the virus," Prof Rahman said.

Tracking the history of Nipah [virus] in Bangladesh, bdnews24.com found that it is highly communicable and can be passed on with minimal human contact. Many victims were infected and they died after not taking precautions in taking care of patients. "But you can prevent the infection by washing hands with soap and not sharing the same food," he said, suggesting caregivers should wear masks. "But above all, the campaign should be not to drink raw date sap."

[Byline: Nurul Islam Hasib]

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail from HealthMap alerts
<promed@promedmail.org>

[Cases of Nipah virus infection occur sporadically in Bangladesh. The most recent major outbreaks reported occurred during the past 2 years (2011 and 2012) at this same period of time. From 31 Jan - 5 Mar 2011, an outbreak in Rangpur region resulted in the deaths of 35 persons, including infants, boys, adolescents, and women (see ProMED-mail archive no. 20110308.0756). In 2012, 6 people died of the infection (see ProMED-mail archive no. 20120212.1040138).

Scientists with villagers have constructed a type of "skirt" made of local materials that denies access of the bats to the palm sap collecting jars. Clearly, this simple technology needs to be spread around through public education, particularly when the bats are pregnant and lactating, when the virus is shed. Boiling the sap, as recommended in the report above, is an alternative. Although drinking raw palm sap is the main source of Nipah virus infection, there is some evidence that eating fruit that has been bitten and contaminated by _Pteropus_ bats has resulted in infections in children.

Although the report above indicates that human Nipah virus (NiV) infections in India have not been documented, an article published in 2012 stated, "NiV RNA was detected in a liver homogenate of _P. giganteus_ captured in Myanaguri, West Bengal. Partial sequence analysis of nucleocapsid, glycoprotein, fusion, and phosphoprotein genes showed similarity with the NiV sequences from earlier outbreaks in India. A serum sample of this bat was also positive by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA] for NiV-specific IgG. This is the 1st report on confirmation of Nipah viral RNA in _Pteropus_ bat from India and suggests the possible role of this species in transmission of NiV in India." India annually reports cases of undocumented "acute encaphalitis syndrome" with no identified etiologic agent in northeastern states. Perhaps some of these may be undiagnosed Nipah virus infections.

Reference
---------
Yadav PD, Raut CG, Shete AM, et al: Detection of Nipah virus RNA in fruit bat (_Pteropus giganteus_) from India. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2012 Sep; 87(3): 576-8.

An image of _Pteropus_ fruit bats, "flying foxes", can be accessed at the source URL above.

[Catbird]

Re: Nipah Virus kills child in Dhaka

Nipah claims 5 more lives

2013-01-25

"The government?s disease monitoring agency has recorded five more deaths from the fatal nipah across Bangladesh since the bat-borne virus made a comeback when it took the life of a minor boy recently in Dhaka.

Director of the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Prof Mahmudur Rahman on Friday said they found six people infected in Rajbarhi, Jhenaidah, Naogaon, Natore and Gaibandha, of who five died.

?A mother died in Natore leaving her 8-month baby infected,? he told bdnews24.com...".

[Shiloh]

Re: Bangladesh: 2013 Nipah Virus - 8 cases, 6 deaths

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesig...php?nid=266732

Sunday, January 27, 2013
6 died so far of Nipah
Staff Correspondent

Six of the eight people infected with Nipah virus this month have died so far, Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) confirmed on Friday.

The dead are from Dhaka, Rajbari, Jhenidah, Naogaon, Natore and Gaibandha.

Yesterday, a man was in a critical condition at a private hospital in the capital.

On January 11, eight of his family drank raw date juice brought from Bhaluka, Mymensingh...

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Bangladesh: 2013 Nipah Virus - 8 cases, 6 deaths

Treyfish

Nipah virus claims 2 more lives
Senior Correspondent, bdnews24.com
Published: 2013-01-27 11:40:27.0 Updated: 2013-01-27 11:44:14.0

The Director of the government?s disease monitoring outfit, IEDCR, Prof Mahmudur Rahman on Sunday said two more died of the virus taking the total death toll this year to eight.

The new deaths were from Pabna and Rajshahi while one 8-month old boy is struggling for life in the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.

The virus that infects a person only after drinking raw date sap and later can pass on to other people through contact is a cause of public health concern in Bangladesh since 2001, as it breaks out every year during Jan-Apr.
...

http://bdnews24.com/health/2013/01/27/nipah-virus-claims-2-more-lives

[Shiloh]

Re: Bangladesh: 2013 Nipah Virus - 11 cases, 8 deaths

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesig...php?nid=266853

Monday, January 28, 2013
2 more die of Nipah
Staff Correspondent

Nipah virus claimed two more lives in Pabna and Rajshahi yesterday, raising the death toll to eight so far this month.

"We identified three new cases of the disease. Two of them have died today," said Prof Mahmudur Rahman, director of Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).

The first death from the disease this year was reported in Dhaka. People become infected with the virus after drinking raw date sap...

[sharon sanders]

Re: Bangladesh: 2013 Nipah Virus - 11 cases, 8 deaths

hat tip Michael Coston

Bangladesh: Updating Nipah & The CDC Director?s Visit



Credit ? The CDC?s GDDER


# 6888

I wrote at length yesterday on the Nipah virus, and the current outbreak in Bangladesh (see Bangladesh: Nipah Returns, so I?ll not bother repeating those points this morning.

What is new this morning is a report from Xinhua News indicating that three more Nipah cases (two fatal) have been reported in Bangladesh, and the arrival on Saturday of U.S. CDC Director Thomas Frieden in Dhaka to discuss their plans to assist that nation in strengthening disease surveillance.

First the report from Xinhua on the latest Nipah cases.

Virus Nipah strikes back in Bangladesh, claims 8 more lives within one week

2013-01-28 10:00:41 GMT2013-01-28 18:00:41(Beijing Time) by Naim-Ul-Karim

DHAKA, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh on Monday reported eight more deaths from infection with the deadly Nipah virus within one week as the bat-borne disease has struck early and hard.

The country's Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control & Research (IEDCR) confirmed two more deaths Sunday from the Nipah infection, tallying the toll at eight from Jan. 22.

"Outbreak of the deadly Nipah virus has claimed eight lives since January 22," Mahmudur Raman, head of the IEDCR, told Xinhua Monday.

"As of today, there are 11 cases from eight Bangladesh districts including Dhaka and eight of them died," he said, adding "Three Nipah-infected patients remain critically ill."
(Continue . . .)

The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) in Bangladesh has far more to deal with than just the Nipah virus. The 150+ million inhabitants of Bangladesh are also subject to H5N1 bird flu, Dengue, Anthrax, and Chikungunya, along with many other diseases.

The United States has been providing ongoing technical, financial, and logistical support to Bangladesh for several years to assist them in upgrading their disease detection and surveillance systems. Hence the visit this past weekend by the CDC?s Director.

The news site BDNews24 has details of Director Frieden?s 2-day visit. Follow the link to read:

Bangladesh to be 'Global Disease Detection site'

Senior Correspondent, bdnews24.com
Published: 2013-01-27 14:56:52.0 Updated: 2013-01-27 18:24:00.0
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is strengthening its ties with Bangladesh as part of its initiative to protect the global community from the urgent public health threats.

(Continue . . . )

Improving disease surveillance, detection, and prevention in those regions where emerging diseases are most apt to occur is not only the humanitarian thing to do, it also helps to keep the world from being blind-sided by emerging infectious disease threats.

We?ve far too many `blind spots? around the world where a novel virus could emerge, and take hold in the population, before it could be identified and (hopefully) contained.

To counter that threat, the CDC has developed a Global Disease Detection and Response division (GDDER).

Global Health - Global Disease Detection and Emergency Response

The Division of Global Disease Detection and Emergency Response (GDDER) protects Americans and the global community from urgent public health threats and provides public health relief for humanitarian emergencies. Activities include:

• Detecting and containing emerging health threats
• Deploying CDC experts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at host country requests for technical assistance and other support
• Building capacity by providing technical assistance in support of International Health Regulations (IHR)
• Promoting policies for public health and bio-security
• Improving the health of populations affected by complex humanitarian emergencies.

According to the GDDER website, nations are selected by the following criteria:

• Public health significance: The country has a high population density or history of infectious diseases or expected potential for emerging diseases;
• Country commitment: The country supports and values partnership with CDC and will actively engage in collaborative activities and identify new partners;
• Established CDC presence: The country has an established, effective working relationship with CDC and supports CDC staff in-country;
• Established regional reach: The country has the infrastructure and regional stature to serve as regional resource, or is already acting as a regional leader in other arenas;
• International partner presence: The country has other U.S. Government agencies and international partners operating in-country.

The GDDER is a program that will hopefully not only help alert us of an emerging infectious disease threat, but that may also provide a chance to stop it in its tracks before it can spread.

While there are no guarantees of success, this is a public health advantage that previous generations could only have dreamed of.

Posted by Michael Coston at <a class="timestamp-link" href="http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2013/01/bangladesh-updating-nipah-cdc-directors.html" rel="bookmark" title="permanent link"><abbr class="published" title="2013-01-28T09:27:00-05:00">9:27 AM</abbr>

[Giuseppe]

Re: Bangladesh: 2013 Nipah Virus - 11 cases, 8 deaths

[Source: BDNews24, full text: (LINK).]

Nipah stalks new dist, 1 more dies

1 February 2013


With the latest incidence, the death toll from nipah infections this year goes up to nine.

-
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[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Bangladesh: 2013 Nipah Virus - 12 cases, 9 deaths

Treyfish

Saturday, February 2, 2013Metropolitan

'Nipah' kills child in Joypurhat
Our Correspondent, Dinajpur
Nipah virus claimed the life of a girl child in Joypurhat on Thursday, says Joypurhat Health Department officials.

Sumaiya Begum, 3, daughter of Shawkat Ali of Dasra Sarail village in Khetlal upazila, died at Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College, Bogra around 1:30am, said family members.
...

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=267502

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Bangladesh: 2013 Nipah Virus - 12 cases, 10 deaths

Interactive map of Nipah cases to January 30th 2013 https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=...8&source=embed

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Bangladesh: 2013 Nipah Virus - 12 cases, 10 deaths

Nipah Infection in 2013

Update on 3 February, 2013

Situation Update:

3 February 2013: 12 Nipah cases were identified among them 9 died (mortality rate 75%); 3 cases are still under treatment. These cases are from 8 districts (Gaibandha, Natore, Rajshahi, Naogaon, Rajbari, Pabna, Jhenaidah, Mymensingh). Age distribution of cases are 8 months to 43 years among them 8 are male.

Till February, 2013, a total of 177 human cases of Nipah infection in Bangladesh were recognized from outbreak among them 137 (77%) died.

Nipah

Human Nipah virus (NiV) infection, an emerging zoonotic disease, was first recognized in a large outbreak of 276 reported cases in Malaysia and Singapore from September 1998 through May 1999.

Agent

NiV is a highly pathogenic paramyxovirus belonging to genus Henipavirus. It is an enveloped RNA virus.

Incubation period

The median incubation period of the secondary cases who had a single exposure to Nipah case was nine days (range 6?11 days) but exposure to onset of illness varies from 6-16 days. The median incubation period following single intake of raw date palm sap to onset of illness is 7 days (range: 2-12 days) in Bangladesh.

Transmission:

Drinking of raw date palm sap (kancha khejurer rosh) contaminated with NiV
Close physical contact with Nipah infected patients
Surveillance

Nipah surveillance began in 2006, Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) in collaboration with ICDDR,B established Nipah surveillance in 10 District level Government hospitals of the country where Nipah outbreaks had been identified. Presently surveillance system is functioning in five hospitals of Nipah Belt.

http://www.iedcr.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=106

[Giuseppe]

Re: Bangladesh: 2013 Nipah Virus - 12 cases, 10 deaths

[Source: BDNews24, full page: (LINK).]

Father of first nipah victim dies

Senior Correspondent, bdnews24.com

Published: 2013-02-04 13:47:41.0 Updated: 2013-02-04 13:47:41.0


The father of this year?s first nipah victim has died after struggling for life at a Dhaka Hospital.

(?)

-
------

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Bangladesh: 2013 Nipah Virus - 12 cases, 10 deaths

Update on 5 February, 2013

Situation Update:

5 February 2013: 12 Nipah cases were identified among them 10died (mortality rate 83%); 2 cases are still under treatment. These cases are from 8 districts (Gaibandha, Natore, Rajshahi, Naogaon, Rajbari, Pabna, Jhenaidah, Mymensingh). Age distribution of cases are 8 months to 43 years among them 8 are male.

Till February, 2013, a total of 177 human cases of Nipah infection in Bangladesh were recognized from outbreak among them 138 (78%) died.

Nipah

Human Nipah virus (NiV) infection, an emerging zoonotic disease, was first recognized in a large outbreak of 276 reported cases in Malaysia and Singapore from September 1998 through May 1999.

Agent
...

http://www.iedcr.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=106

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Bangladesh: 2013 Nipah Virus - 12 cases, 10 deaths

Nipah Infection in 2013

Update on 13 February, 2013

Situation Update:

13 February 2013: 14 Nipah cases were identified among them 12died (mortality rate 86%); 2 cases are still under treatment. These cases are from 8 districts (Gaibandha, Natore, Rajshahi, Naogaon, Rajbari, Pabna, Jhenaidah, Mymensingh). Age distribution of cases are 8 months to 43 years among them 8 are male.

Till February, 2013, a total of 179 human cases of Nipah infection in Bangladesh were recognized from outbreak among them 140 (78%) died.

Nipah

Human Nipah virus (NiV) infection, an emerging zoonotic disease, was first recognized in a large outbreak of 276 reported cases in Malaysia and Singapore from September 1998 through May 1999.
...
Map of cases available at; http://www.iedcr.org/index.php?optio...article&id=106

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Bangladesh: 2013 Nipah Virus - 14 cases, 12 deaths

Nipah Infection in 2013

Update on 23 February, 2013

Situation Update:

23 February 2013: 16 Nipah cases were identified among them 14died (mortality rate 88%); 2 cases are still under treatment. These cases are from 8 districts (Gaibandha, Natore, Rajshahi, Naogaon, Rajbari, Pabna, Jhenaidah, Mymensingh). Age distribution of cases are 8 months to 43 years among them 8 are male.

Till February, 2013, a total of 181 human cases of Nipah infection in Bangladesh were recognized from outbreak among them 142 (79%) died.

Nipah

Human Nipah virus (NiV) infection, an emerging zoonotic disease, was first recognized in a large outbreak of 276 reported cases in Malaysia and Singapore from September 1998 through May 1999.

Agent

NiV is a highly pathogenic paramyxovirus belonging to genus Henipavirus. It is an enveloped RNA virus.

Incubation period

The median incubation period of the secondary cases who had a single exposure to Nipah case was nine days (range 6?11 days) but exposure to onset of illness varies from 6-16 days. The median incubation period following single intake of raw date palm sap to onset of illness is 7 days (range: 2-12 days) in Bangladesh.

Transmission:

Drinking of raw date palm sap (kancha khejurer rosh) contaminated with NiV
Close physical contact with Nipah infected patients
Surveillance

Nipah surveillance began in 2006, Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) in collaboration with ICDDR,B established Nipah surveillance in 10 District level Government hospitals of the country where Nipah outbreaks had been identified. Presently surveillance system is functioning in five hospitals of Nipah Belt.

http://www.iedcr.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=106