Nipah virus infection reported in Khulna, Bangladesh: Media reports

By NewsDesk @infectiousdiseasenews

Media sources in Bangladesh (HERE and HERE) are reporting a Nipah virus infection in the city of Khulna. The reported case is a 20-year-old female who has been hospitalized since last Saturday at the Khulna Medical College Hospital (KMCH).

“A medical board has confirmed her infection by Nipah virus. As Rashida’s infection is a risk to other patients, she is being treated separately at the hospital’s Medicine unit 1,” said SM Kamal Hossain, chief of KMCH Medicine Department.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in the Bangladesh and India outbreaks, consumption of fruits or fruit products (e.g. raw date palm juice) contaminated with urine or saliva from infected fruitbats was the most likely source of infection. Fruit bats of the family Pteropodidae – particularly species belonging to the Pteropus genus – are the natural hosts for Nipah virus. There is no apparent disease in fruit bats.

In more recent outbreaks of the disease, person-to-person transmission has been seen in Bangladesh and India.

The disease in humans can range from asymptomatic infection to fatal encephalitis. Encephalitis and seizures occur in severe cases, progressing to coma within 24 to 48 hours.

The case fatality rate is estimated at 40% to 75%; however, this rate can vary by outbreak depending on local capabilities for surveillance investigations, according to the WHO.

Related: The World’s Deadliest Viruses

Those who survive acute encephalitis make a full recovery, but around 20% are left with residual neurological consequences such as persistent convulsions and personality changes.

There is no treatment or vaccine available for either people or animals.