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Background Nipah virus (NiV) infection, often fatal in humans, is primarily transmitted in Bangladesh through the consumption of date palm sap contaminated by Pteropus bats. Person-to-person transmission is also common and increases the concern of large outbreaks. This study aimed to characterize the molecular epidemiology, phylogenetic relationship, and the evolution of the nucleocapsid gene (N gene) of NiV. Methods We conducted molecular detection, genetic characterization, and Bayesian time-scale evolution analyses of NiV using pooled Pteropid bat roost urine samples from an outbreak area in 2012 and archived RNA samples from NiV case patients identified during 2012–2018 in Bangladesh. Results NiV-RNA was detected in 19% (38/456) of bat roost urine samples and among them; nine N gene sequences were recovered. We also retrieved sequences from 53% (21 out of 39) of archived RNA samples from patients. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that all Bangladeshi strains belonged to NiV-BD genotype and had an evolutionary rate of 4.64 × 10−4 substitutions/site/year. The analyses suggested that the strains of NiV-BD genotype diverged during 1995 and formed two sublineages. Conclusion This analysis provides further evidence that the NiV strains of the Malaysian and Bangladesh genotypes diverged recently and continue to evolve. More extensive surveillance of NiV in bats and human will be helpful to explore strain diversity and virulence potential to infect humans through direct or person-to-person virus transmission.

Acidifiers are inorganic chemicals that potentially reduce gastric pH to improve nutrient utilization by suppressing invasion of pathogenic microorganism. One hundred Cobb 500™ broiler chicks were used in a 28-day trial of a completely randomized design to study the effects of acidifier supplementation on performance parameters, carcass characteristics and serum lipoprotein in commercial broiler. Birds were randomly distributed into five dietary treatment groups designated as T0, T1, T2, T3 and T4 where acidifier was supplemented at 0%, 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4% in drinking water, respectively and each treatment was divided into two replicates having 20 birds per replicate. All birds had free access to ad-libitum feed and water. Results indicated that, weight gain decreased (P