US EditionEverything to know about Nipah virus amid cases being detected in India
Two nurses in West Bengal tested positive for Nipah virus, which has a 40% to 75% mortality rate, prompting enhanced surveillance by multiple countries, WHO said.
- Earlier this week, India confirmed two Nipah virus cases in West Bengal among 25-year-old nurses, prompting regional alerts.
- As a zoonotic disease, Nipah virus is mainly spread by fruit bats and can transmit between people; WHO estimates its fatality rate between 40% and 75% with incubation period three to 14 days.
- India's Health Ministry said all quarantined contacts have been tested and an outbreak response team was deployed while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and WHO activated responses.
- Neighboring countries implemented airport screening, including incoming passengers' temperature checks and advising against travel to the Barasat area, while increasing monitoring at border crossings.
- While no vaccine exists for Nipah, experts say treatments like monoclonal antibody and remdesivir research are underway, and WHO estimates incubation can last up to 14 days.
37 Articles
37 Articles
Nipah virus outbreak in India: How it spreads, when symptoms appear, health risks and prevention
Across parts of Asia, health authorities are quietly tightening screening protocols after fresh Nipah virus cases were confirmed in India. Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia have rolled out additional testing steps following two reported cases in West Bengal. The response reflects wider concern around a virus that, while rare, can be severe when it does appear. Doctors tracking the situation say Nipah outbreaks are usually limited in si…
K-P issues province-wide alert over possible Nipah virus threat
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) health department has issued a province-wide alert to all government and private hospitals over fears of the possible spread of Nipah virus following cases reported in India, officials said on Friday. Authorities confirmed that no case has so far been detected in Pakistan, but precautionary measures have been made mandatory. According to an official advisory circulated to district health officers, medical superintend…
What is Nipah virus? And what makes it so deadly?
An outbreak of the deadly Nipah virus in India has put many countries in Asia on high alert, given the fatality rate in humans can be between 40% and 75%. Several countries, including Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, have introduced new screening and testing measures, after at least two people died of Nipah virus in the Indian state of West Bengal this month.
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