More than half of identified cases result from person-to-person transmission.

TOC summary line: Nipah virus was likely transmitted from fruit bats to humans by drinking fresh date palm sap.

No abstract

This is the second Nipah outbreak in Bangladesh where date palm sap has been implicated as the vehicle of transmission. Fresh date palm sap should not be drunk, unless effective steps have been taken to prevent bat access to the sap during collection.

Particularly vulnerable are health care workers who do not use personal protective equipment and persons who do not wash hands after traditional burial practices.