Prof Mahmudur Rahman, Director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (ledcr), has sent a clarification to The Daily Star regarding a report headlined 'Nationwide alert against Nipah epidemic fear,' published in TheDailyStar on January 26. He clarified that, "the presence of the Nipah virus in one of the samples we sent to the CDC, Atlanta, USA confirms the outbreak; but it does not constitute an epidemic alert and fear. This time the magnitude of the Nipah virus infection is much less than those that occurred last year in Rajbari and Faridpur."

Prof Rahman asserted that Iedcr as well as other agencies of the government are fully capable of tackling such an outbreak and that the outbreak in Tangail is fully under control.