Drinking raw date palm sap is a risk factor for human Nipah virus (NiV) infection.
This is explained in the background.
introduction raw date palm
It is normal to practice for fruit bats, which are the natural reservoir of NiV, to contaminate raw sap with saliva by licking the surface of a date palm that produces sap.
We investigated and tested four distinct types of physical barriers that have the potential to prevent bats from coming into contact with the sap.
Methods: In 2024, we utilised a crossover design and selected 20 date palm sap-producing plants using a random selection method.
After that, we kept an eye on each tree for a total of two nights, during the first of which intervention with a bamboo skirt was applied, and during the second of which the tree did not get the intervention.
In the year 2024, we identified 120 trees and randomly assigned each of the four distinct types of interventions to 15 of those trees.
The following are the interventions that were carried out: bamboo, doncha (a plant native to the area), jute stick and polythene skirts covering the shaved area, sap stream, tap, and collection jar.
In the course of the research, we used the other sixty trees as a control group.
features raw date palm
We employed motion-activated infrared cameras to study whether or not bats come into contact with the sap.
Our goal was to determine whether or not bats come into contact with the sap.
It was feasible for bats to get into contact with the sap when the skirt did not completely cover the place where the sap was produced.
As a direct consequence of this, in the year 2024, we requested that the people who collect the sap use skirts that were noticeably longer.
On the other hand, seven per cent of the bats who used the jute stick skirt did come into contact with the sap during one night.
The research came to the conclusion that covering the areas of a tree that generated sap with skirts made of bamboo, dhoincha, jute stick, or polythene was an effective strategy to prevent bats from getting into touch with the sap.
In order to lessen the likelihood of the Nipah virus being passed on to others, community members should be encouraged to wear these skirts through various preventative measures.
advantages raw date palm
There is a virus coming to a head for the date palm sap collection! The natural reservoir for the paramyxovirus nipah virus (NiV) is Pteropus spp.
Hospital-based encephalitis surveillance in Bangladesh found 18 clusters of NiV infection between December 2010 and March 2014.
Case-patients in 3 clusters in 2 districts had an unknown source of infection.
Researchers from anthropology and epidemiology examined these 3 clusters, which included 14 case patients, 8 of whom passed away.
Of the 14 case-patients, 6 cared for a NiV-infected person, and 8 habitually drank fermented date palm sap (tari) before becoming ill.
The procedure for harvesting date palm sap for fresh consumption was identical to the procedure for preparing date palm trees for the production of tari.
According to reports, tari-making pots included bat waste.
conclusion raw date palm
These results imply that tari use may be a source of NiV transmission.
Interventions to stop bat access to date palm sap may stop the spread of the NiV that causes tari.
The animal reservoir for the bat-borne Nipah virus (NiV), which is an emerging illness, is Pteropus spp. bats.
In 1998, 283 people were impacted by an outbreak in Malaysia that resulted in 109 fatalities (case fatality rate: 39%).
NiV infection epidemics have since happened almost annually in Bangladesh and sporadically in India.
Between 2001 and 2014, 33 NiV encephalitis outbreaks were documented in Bangladesh and India, and epidemiological studies linked bat-borne and human-to-human transmission.
0
0