Plagues,
Pestilences and Diseases
20 dead in Bangladesh as Nipah virus returns
(AFP)
DHAKA — At least 20 people have died in an outbreak of Nipah virus
in a remote northern Bangladesh town as the deadly disease
returned to the country, an official said Saturday.
Nipah induces flu-like symptoms that often lead to encephalitis
and coma, with at least a 70 percent mortality rate in Bangladesh.
The latest outbreak was confirmed Friday in Hatibandha in
Lalmonirhat district.
"So far, we have had 24 people affected by the Nipah virus in
Hatibandha," said Mahmudur Rahman, a senior health official.
"Of the total, 20 have died and several people are in critical
condition," he said.
At least 113 people, excluding the latest victims, have died of
the virus in Bangladesh since the first outbreak in 2001.
The government in Dhaka has set up a detection laboratory to speed
up testing for any outbreak.
In 2004, nearly 40 people died in two central districts, and the
United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was
called in to help combat the disease.
The virus, named after the Malaysian village where it was first
detected, jumped the species barrier from fruit bats to pigs and
then to humans in October 1998. It is believed to be caught
through direct contact with pigs.
In 1999, 256 people in Malaysia fell ill with the disease, and
four in 10 patients died. More than a million pigs were
slaughtered to help curb its spread.