Nipah virus death toll now at 10 in Bangladesh
In a follow-up to a story last week, the death toll due to Nipah virus so far this year in Bangladesh has risen to 10 according to Bangladesh’s Institute of Epidemiology Diseases Control and Research (IEDCR). A dozen people have been infected thus far in 2013, according to a report in Dhaka-based news source, The Financial Express Tuesday.
The United News of Bangladesh reported that Dr. Mushtuq Hossain, the Principal Scientific Officer (Medical Sociology) of IEDCR, saidMonday that those died and who have been affected by the deadly Nipah virus consumed raw date palm juice.
Mushtuq cautioned that no one should drink raw date palm juice and fruits that were partly eaten by animals earlier. “One should drink date juice after its proper boiling and eat raw fruit after washing it properly.”
Nipah virus was first detected in Malaysia in 1998 in an outbreak that infected 276 people; however, at present Bangladesh, a hotspot for infectious diseases, is the only country in the world that reports the disease.
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