Two siblings of Rajshahi did not have Nipah virus: IEDCR

The two siblings from Rajshahi named Muntaha Marisha, 2 and Muftaul Masia, 5, who succumbed to an unknown virus at Chuniapara village in Durgapur of Rajshahi after eating Boroi (jujube), did not contract Nipah virus.

Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) director professor Tahmina Shireen confirmed the development to Prothom Alo on Sunday evening.

Marisha, the younger of the sisters, died on the way to hospital on Wednesday afternoon. Masia died on Saturday. The parents of the siblings were also admitted to the hospital after the sudden death of their daughters.

The local physicians could not confirm whether the two siblings were infected by Nipah virus or not. Later, their samples were sent to the IEDCR in Dhaka for diagnosis.

Speaking regarding this to Prothom Alo, IEDCR director Tahmina Shireen said, “We have tested the samples of the two girls. They didn’t have the Nipah virus.”

There were discussions as to whether the two girls were infected by any unknown virus or not. Asked about this, IEDCR director Tahmina Shireen told Prothom Alo, “I only can say that the girls didn’t die of Nipah virus. We are yet to diagnose whether they contracted any unknown virus or not.”

The two siblings ate fruits before falling sick. The domestic help of the house collected those from the ground under a tree, and those were not washed.

The father of the two children Manjur Hossain is a teacher of mathematics at Rajshahi Cadet College. He lives in the cadet college quarters with his family. They are from the Chuniapara village in the Durgapur upazila of Rajshahi.

The younger daughter caught a fever in the morning on Wednesday and succumbed to the illness while being taken to the hospital in the afternoon. They noticed some black spots on her body after her death.

On the following day, the elder daughter showed similar physical ailments, including fever and vomiting. The parents rushed her to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Rajshahi.

Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal, in-charge of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, said the two siblings ate the fruits before falling sick. When he asked the father if the jujube were cleaned before consumption, he replied, “The domestic help collected those from the ground under a tree, and those were not cleaned up.”