Piloting the use of indigenous methods to prevent Nipah virus infection by interrupting bats' access to date palm sap in Bangladesh

Abstract

People in Bangladesh frequently drink fresh date palm sap. Fruit bats (Pteropus giganteus) also drink raw sap and may contaminate the sap by shedding Nipah virus through saliva and urine. In a previous study we identified two indigenous methods to prevent bats accessing the sap, bamboo skirts and lime (calcium carbonate). We conducted a pilot study to assess the acceptability of these two methods among sap harvesters. We used interactive community meetings and group discussions to encourage all the sap harvesters (n = 12) from a village to use either bamboo skirts or lime smear that some of them (n = 4) prepared and applied. We measured the preparation and application time and calculated the cost of bamboo skirts. We conducted interviews after the use of each method. The sap harvesters found skirts effective in preventing bats from accessing sap. They were sceptical that lime would be effective as the lime was washed away by the sap flow. Preparation of the skirt took ∼105 min. The application of each method took ∼1 min. The cost of the bamboo skirt is minimal because bamboo is widely available and they made the skirts with pieces of used bamboo. The bamboo skirt method appeared practical and affordable to the sap harvesters. Further studies should explore its ability to prevent bats from accessing date palm sap and assess if its use produces more or better quality sap, which would provide further incentives to make it more acceptable for its regular use.

Nipah Virus Transmission from Bats to Humans Associated with Drinking Traditional Liquor Made from Date Palm Sap, Bangladesh, 2011–2014

“…The use of bamboo skirts is already a successful, affordable, and culturally acceptable method to prevent bat access to date palm sap, and this strategy could also be used to prevent NiV transmission from tari consumption ( 34 , 35 ). In addition, tari harvesters from ethnic minority communities have limited access to mass media because of their ethnic, religious, and linguistic minority status in Bangladesh.…”

Evaluation of luciferase and GFP-expressing Nipah viruses for rapid quantitative antiviral screening

“…Due to its high pathogenicity, its potential use for bio/agro-terrorism, and to the current lack of approved therapeutics, NiV is designated as an overlap select agent requiring biosafety level-4 containment. Although several preventative measures against exposure to bat saliva or urine have been studied (Nahar et al, 2013), NiV continues to cause near-annual outbreaks of fatal encephalitis in Bangladesh. The development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies and soluble subunit vaccines against henipaviruses have shown great promise (Broder et al, 2013), but screening available compound libraries for potentially efficacious therapeutics against NiV remains a high priority for investigation.…”

The Future of Preventing and Treating Nipah Virus Infection

“…Efforts to modify the human behaviors and prevent NiV infection in these regions are already underway and, if given sufficient resources and support, they are likely to lead to a drastic decrease in incidence of NiV outbreaks. These efforts include campaigns to increase awareness of NiV disease and its source through written, radio and televised means; using inexpensive and often locally produced tree skirts to prevent bats from accessing the collection jars; and encouraging the boiling or pasteurization of date palm sap before consumption as this inactivates NiV [18,19]. Overall, these efforts have so far met with success where implemented; however, implementation has proved difficult in many regions due to traditional cultural practices.…”