One person dies from Nipah virus in Bangladesh, WHO says

The World Health Organization said a woman died in northern Bangladesh in January after contracting the Nipah virus. The case, in a country where Nipah infections are reported almost every year, follows two cases identified in neighbouring India and has prompted stepped-up airport screenings across Asia.

The patient, aged between 40 and 50, developed symptoms on 21 January: fever and headache followed by hypersalivation, disorientation and convulsion. She died a week later and was confirmed the day after to be infected with the virus. She had no travel history but had consumed raw date palm sap.

All 35 people who had contact with the patient were being monitored and had tested negative, and no further cases had been detected to date, the WHO said. Nipah spreads mainly through products contaminated by infected bats, such as fruit, and can be fatal in up to 75% of cases, though it does not spread easily between people.

Bangladesh, northern Bangladesh