Nipah Encephalitis
Beating a killer virus
23 November 2009, 17:00 PM
Raw date palm juice being collected in an earthen pot.
Bat that carries the killer virus(inset)
IF you are (shouldn't you?) afraid of contracting a disease that has no remedy (about almost 100 per cent case-fatality rate), then be cautious when taking the raw date-palm juice. You need to be more cautious, if the source of the juice is unknown. However, if the juice is collected using a simple local technology, then you can safely drink the juice.
This is the season of sweet date juice. However, you need not deny yourself the tasty juice; just be sure it has been collected using the correct procedure.
Since 2001 when the aetiology (study of the cause of disease) was confirmed, 96 out of 133 affected persons in the central and western regions of Bangladesh died of a febrile illness called Nipah encephalitis. The disease was contracted from drinking the raw date-palm juice contaminated by a fruit-bat (the species Pteropus giganteus belonging to Paramyxoviridae family). The juice collector cut a hole into the tender part of the trunk near its top and draws the juice. The juice then collects into an earthen pot. But the juice is often sipped by these bats, and Nipah virus is transmitted from their droplets, i.e. saliva, urine and faeces.
Aetiology of Nipah encephalitis was first known during an outbreak in Malaysia in 1998 and Singapore in 1999. Frequent outbreaks in Bangladesh in the recent past drew attention of medical scientists and health professionals worldwide. The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) of the Bangladesh Government, with financial support from the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and technical assistance of ICDDR,B scientists, initiated control measures on emergency basis.
A simple technique to quarantine the pots, along with the hole from where the juice oozes through a narrow bamboo-trail, with anything capable of barring the bats' access to the system can warrant purity of the juice. A bamboo-frame wrapped with rugs of any kind fastened around the juice-collection system has been tried and found effective. In addition to this preventive measures, two low-cost drugsAmiloride and Chloroquinecommonly used in the treatment for hypertension and malaria respectively are under trial, following a breaking news published in ScienceNOW in April 2009 that a group of scientists led by Robin Buckland of the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM) found these to be efficacious against Nipah encephalitis.
While a Discovery Channel documentary (which also includes the Bangladesh situation) is currently being aired for mass awareness about this easily-preventable but a fatal emerging health problem, our local electronic media are unfortunately silent. However, airing relevant tips from various channels could be a life-saving service to the nation. This time of the year is appropriate for a mass-media campaign to activate an interpersonal communication network at the grassroots level since juice-collection and intake start from the beginning of autumn.
The writer is a chemist, poet, literary critic, and lyricist.
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