Caution against drinking raw date juice

Every year, many people in Bangladesh eagerly wait for winter season to enjoy fresh date palm juice. Drinking raw date sap in the morning is an old practice in our rural areas. For some, winter is meaningless without this sweet juice and food items prepared with it. However before enjoying this sweet juice, we should be aware of how it has been procured. It can be deadly since there is a high possibility of getting infected by the Nipah virus from drinking it, as experience shows in recent years. Nipah is a life-threatening viral disease transmitted from bats to humans. Its main symptoms include fever, headache, itching, palpitation, unconsciousness and in some cases fatal breathing problems.
Experts have advised caution against drinking raw date juice as bats usually drink it from receptacles used for collecting it from the date or palm trees. This disease is extremely contagious and can be passed on with minimal human contact. If the container of collecting date juice is covered properly by a piece of cloth, the juice can be called safe for us. Otherwise, it has high possibilities to spread Nipah virus infection.

Badsha Faysal,
Jurain, Dhaka,
badshafaysal1998@gmail.com