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Nipah virus is a paramyxovirus first identified in 1999 that is carried by fruit bats (the reservoir) and pigs and present throughout South and Southeast Asia. It has caused several outbreaks of respiratory illness and encephalitis. The case-fatality rate is >70%; no specific treatments or vaccines are available. Person-to-person transmission has been documented, but the available data are too limited to provide an understanding of transmission routes. An international team of investigators has now evaluated 14 years of data from Bangladesh to better define the epidemiology of the disease.
From April 2001 through April 2014, 248 people with Nipah virus infections were documented in Bangladesh, of whom 193 (78%) died. The investigators perfor…