Two Decades of Nipah Virus in Bangladesh: National Trends and District-Level Hotspots, 2001-2024

Abstract

Nipah virus causes a rare but severe zoonotic encephalitis with one of the highest case-fatality rates of any known human pathogen. Bangladesh accounts for the largest share of confirmed global Nipah cases and has recorded cases in almost every year since 2001, driven by consumption of raw date-palm sap contaminated by Pteropus fruit bats. This study compiles and cross-validates the national annual trend (2001-2024) and district-level distribution (2001-2021) of Nipah cases from two independently published surveillance analyses -- no public API or dashboard exists for this disease. Key findings: (1) Bangladesh recorded 343 cases and 245 deaths (71.4% case fatality rate), 2001-2024; (2) two independent published sources report identical annual case counts for all 21 overlapping years (2001-2021), a strong cross-validation signal; (3) three years (2002, 2006, 2016) recorded zero cases, yet transmission resumed every time; (4) of 64 districts, 33 recorded cases, with Faridpur alone accounting for 71 cases (22.0% of the district total) -- a much tighter geographic cluster than the "northwestern Bangladesh" description common in prior literature suggests once mapped at district level. Data sources: transcribed with full citation from Satter et al. (2023, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0011617) and Bhowmik et al. (2024, Science in One Health, doi:10.1016/j.soh.2024.100103); district boundaries from geoBoundaries. All analysis code and data are available at: https://github.com/khalilurrrahmanridoykhan/bangladesh-nipah-2001-2024