title: Nipah virus outbreak with person-to-person transmission in a district of Bangladesh, 2007.
abstract: In February 2007 an outbreak of Nipah virus (NiV) encephalitis in Thakurgaon District of northwest Bangladesh affected seven people, three of whom died. All subsequent cases developed illness 7-14 days after close physical contact with the index case while he was ill. Cases were more likely than controls to have been in the same room (100% vs. 9.5%, OR undefined, P<0.001) and to have touched him (83% vs. 0%, OR undefined, P<0.001). Although the source of infection for the index case was not identified, 50% of Pteropus bats sampled from near the outbreak area 1 month after the outbreak had antibodies to NiV confirming the presence of the virus in the area. The outbreak was spread by person-to-person transmission. Risk of NiV infection in family caregivers highlights the need for infection control practices to limit transmission of potentially infectious body secretions.
authors.affiliation: Programme on Infectious Disease and Vaccine Sciences, Health System and Infectious Disease Division, Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Dhaka, Mohakhali, Bangladesh. nhomaira@icddrb.org
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Homaira
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hossain
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sultana
authors.forename: M S U
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Podder
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nahar
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Gurley
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Daszak
authors.forename: W I
authors.initials: WI
authors.lastname: Lipkin
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Rollin
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Comer
authors.forename: T G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Ksiazek
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Luby
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000821:virology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D045464:Henipavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D045405:Nipah Virus; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult