Bangladesh reported its first death from the brain-damaging Nipah virus this year on January 29.

The first death in the country in 2024 was reported in Manikganj, about 50km from the capital Dhaka, said Tahmina Shirin, director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) under the Bangladesh Health Ministry.

The victim died after drinking date palm sap. Test results showed that the sample tested positive for Nipah virus.

"The sample was sent for laboratory testing and the result was positive (for Nipah virus). We know that the person drank fresh date palm sap," Tahmina Shirin told Reuters .

Nipah virus – which is transmitted to humans through contact with the bodily fluids of infected bats, pigs or other humans – was first identified in 1999 in an outbreak that affected farmers and others who handled pigs in Malaysia. Since then, Nipah virus outbreaks have occurred in Bangladesh, India and Singapore, killing more than 160 people in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh's health ministry has warned people not to eat fruit that has been partially eaten by birds or bats and to drink fresh date palm sap.

There is currently no treatment or vaccine for the virus. A total of 10 people out of 14 people infected with Nipah in Bangladesh died in 2023, the highest number of deaths in seven years, according to the IEDCR. After Nipah infection, people often experience fever, headache, cough and difficulty breathing, and can develop brain swelling.

According to the World Health Organization, the mortality rate of people infected with Nipah virus is estimated to be between 40% and 75%.

Minh Hoa (t/h according to VTV, Vietnam+)