by William Gomes

Mother, daughter and nephew die of encephalitis caused by the Nipah virus (NiV) after drinking date juice contaminated by bat saliva. This is the first case this year, but medical experts fear the disease might spread and cause an outbreak.

Dhaka (AsiaNews) – In one week, encephalitis killed three members of the same Hindu family in Bhanga, an upazila (subdistrict) in Faridpur district, central Bangladesh. The disease was caused by the Nipah virus (NiV), which was likely contracted by drinking date juice contaminated by bat saliva.

The victims are Karuna Biswas, her daughter Dipti, 11, and nephew Sanu, 10, all from the country's Hindu minority.

The woman’s husband, Gourango Biswas, said that she developed a fever and began having headaches until she died on 13 January. On the same day, their daughter began showing the same symptoms. Moved to a hospital, she passed away three days later. The nephew Sanu Biswas died the next day from the same disease.

Citing a report by the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research and National Influenza Centre of Bangladesh (IEDCR), Dr Bashirul Islam, the Faridpur district civil surgeon, said the three deaths were caused by the Nipah virus from bats. Blood samples indicate that the victims contracted the disease by drinking raw date juice that had been contaminated by bat saliva.

IEDCR Director Mahmudur Rahman stressed that these were the first NiV deaths of 2010. He is concerned that the disease might spread among the population as it did last year in Rajbari and Manikganj.

In 2004, a NiV outbreak killed 17 people in the village of Laxmipur, Sadar upazila.

• bangladesh
• faridpur
• bhanga
• nipah
• virus
• niv
• outbreak
• bat
• raw
• date
• juice
• contamination
• death