Nobokontho24:: One person has died of Nipah virus in the country. For this, the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) has called for caution in consuming date sap.

This was informed at a conference on ‘Winter Infectious Diseases and Nipah Virus Transmission’ organized by IEDCR on Wednesday.

According to IEDCR, the deceased woman is held from Rajshahi. She had a history of consuming raw date juice. Earlier, three cases of Nipah virus infection were reported in 2022. Two of them died.

Director of IEDCR Professor Tahmina Shirin said Nipah virus spreads though the saliva or urine of bats in this country. People get infected with the virus when they drink raw date juice which is contaminated.

She also said that raw date juice and any half-eaten fruit should not be consumed.

According to IEDCR, 71 percent of people infected with Nipah virus die. So avoid consuming raw date juice.

The speakers at the conference also said that, it takes eight to nine days after consuming the juice to be visible symptoms of Nipah virus infection. In case of human-to-human transmission, symptoms appear after 6-11 days.

According to IEDCR researchers, date juice is safe to drink after heating up and so is molasses. The institution has also advised palm juice collectors to wash their hands with soap after work.