Nipah virus outbreaks in Bangladesh: a deadly infectious disease

During 2001-2011, multidisciplinary teams from the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) and International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh(icddr,b) identified sporadic cases and 11 outbreaks of Nipah encephalitis. Three outbreaks were detected through sentinel surveillance; others were identified through event-based surveillance. A total of 196 cases of Nipah encephalitis, in outbreaks, clusters and as isolated cases were detected from 20 districts of Bangladesh; out of them 150 (77%) cases died. Drinking raw date palm sap and contact with a case were identified as the major risk factors for acquiring the disease. Combination of surveillance systems and multidisciplinary outbreak investigations can be an effective strategy not only for detection of emerging infectious diseases but also for identification of novel characteristics and risk factors for these diseases in resource-poor settings.