Doctors suspect rare mosquito-borne virus in Ctg vet teacher’s death

A Chattogram Veterinary and Animal Sciences University teacher died in Chattogram on Thursday after contracting a suspected rare mosquito-borne disease following a recent trip to Bandarban, doctors said.

Jakia Sultana Jothi, 36, was a teacher at the Department of Food Processing and Engineering under the university’s Faculty of Food Science and Technology.

According to colleagues and doctors, she travelled to Bandarban around two weeks ago. After a few days she developed fever, vomiting and physical weakness after returning from the trip.

Her condition later deteriorated rapidly as she suffered seizures and lost consciousness.

Medical sources said she was first admitted to Chattogram Medical College Hospital. She was later shifted to another hospital after her condition worsened.

Dr Kawsarul Alam, a physician at the ICU of Metropolitan Hospital, said doctors suspected viral encephalitis based on her rapid deterioration, seizures and neurological changes.

He said malaria test results came back negative, but the possibility of mosquito-borne Japanese encephalitis could not be ruled out completely.

Some physicians said her symptoms and rapid physical decline were consistent with a rare mosquito-borne viral infection, although the disease has not yet been confirmed.

Health officials in Chattogram said the matter was being investigated seriously due to her recent travel history to Bandarban.

Jothi was declared dead early Thursday after remaining in a coma for three days.

Her death has cast a pall of grief over the university community, colleagues and students.

She completed her postgraduate studies at Bangladesh Agricultural University and later earned a PhD from Hiroshima University in Japan. Her husband is also a university teacher. The couple had one child.

Following the family’s decision, she was buried in her hometown in Mymensingh on Thursday night.