HealthWest Bengal's health department has ordered district committees of doctors, vets, forest and environment officials, led by the district magistrate, to tackle zoonotic diseases such as Nipah, Ebola, bird flu and anthrax.
FruitsThe winter sap season raises the risk of Nipah virus in Bangladesh. WHO puts the death rate at 40 to 75 percent, and not drinking raw date palm sap is the main protection.
CropsAs winter set in early in December 2025, gachhis (sap collectors) in Chandpur's Matlab Uttar upazila were tapping date palms; the upazila agriculture office counted about 2,177 trees, most of them being tapped.
CropsIn November 2025 sap collectors in Magura began trimming and scraping date palms for the winter season. The district had about 1.05 lakh date palms, the Department of Agricultural Extension said, but rising costs left the gachhis fearing thin profits.
