After the recording of two confirmed cases of the Nipah virus in West Bengal, India, authorities in parts of Asia – Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia – say they have put precautions in place, and tightened screening measures at airports, reports the BBC.
Thailand has started screening passengers at three airports that receive flights from West Bengal, while Nepal has also begun screening arrivals at Kathmandu airport and other land border points with India.
The two confirmed cases in West Bengal were reportedly in healthcare workers. Some 196 people who were in contact with them have been traced and tested negative for the virus, according to India’s Health Ministry.
The virus, which can spread from animals (including bats) to humans, as well as person-to-person through contaminated food, has a high fatality range – ranging from 40% to 75% – as there is no vaccine or medicine to treat it.
The WHO has described Nipah in its top 10 priority diseases, along with pathogens like Covid-19 and Zika, because of its potential to trigger an epidemic. The incubation period ranges from four to 14 days.
People who contract the virus show a wide range of symptoms, or sometimes, none at all.
Initial symptoms may include fever, headaches, muscle pain, vomiting and sore throat. In some people, these may be followed by drowsiness, altered consciousness and pneumonia.
Encephalitis may occur in severe cases.
To date, no drugs of vaccines have been approved to treat the disease.
Past outbreaks
The first recognised Nipah outbreak was in 1998 among pig farmers in Malaysia and later spread to neighbouring Singapore. The virus got its name from the village where it was first discovered.
More than 100 people died and a million pigs culled in an effort to contain the virus. Bangladesh has borne the brunt in recent years, with more than 100 people dying of Nipah since 2001.
Outbreaks were previously reported in West Bengal in 2001 and 2007. More recently, the southern state of Kerala has been a Nipah hotspot. In 2018, 19 cases were reported of which 17 were fatal; and in 2023, two out of six confirmed cases later died.
No cases have yet been reported outside India.
BBC article – Nipah virus outbreak in India triggers Asia airport screenings (Open access)
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