Nipah Virus Outbreak: The World Health Organisation on Friday said that it does not see the risk of an Nipah virus outbreak spreading outside India and that there was no need for travel or trade curbs. The WHO remarks follow the reports of two Nipah cases in India.
Asian countries like Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam have tightened the screening measures at airports to prevent the spread of infection after India confirmed cases in West Bengal.
“The WHO considers the risk of further spread of infection from these two cases is low,” the agency told Reuters in an email on Friday. Stating that it was in talks with the health agency in India, the WHO added, "There is no evidence yet of increased human-to-human transmission."
WHO authorities have not ruled out the possibility of additional human exposures, as the virus continues to circulate among fruit bat populations.
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How Nipah Virus Spreads
Nipah, a zoonotic virus primarily carried by fruit bats (flying foxes), can jump to humans through contact with infected bats. The WHO said that the source of the outbreak could not be ascertained so far.
It can also spread person-to-person via close contact with bodily fluids, though sustained human-to-human transmission remains limited in this outbreak.
Symptoms often include high fever, headache, vomiting, and severe brain inflammation (encephalitis), which can lead to coma or death. The case fatality rate is alarmingly high, ranging from 40 per cent to 75 per cent depending on the outbreak and access to care. There is currently no approved cure or vaccine available, though several vaccine candidates are in various stages of development and testing.
Small outbreaks are not unusual, and virologists say the risk to the general population remains low.
Nipah Cases In India
Earlier, the Health Ministry on Tuesday confirmed that only two cases of Nipah Virus Disease have been reported from West Bengal from December last year till date.
The Ministry further said that speculative and incorrect figures regarding Nipah Virus Disease (NiVD) cases are being circulated in certain sections of the media, advising people to only rely on verified information.
Two health workers infected with the virus in West Bengal are being treated in Hospital.
India continues to report occasional Nipah virus infections, especially in Kerala in the south. Kerala is considered one of the world’s highest-risk areas for the virus, which has been linked to dozens of deaths since it first appeared there in 2018.
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"The outbreak is the seventh documented in India and the third in West Bengal, where outbreaks in 2001 and 2007 were in districts bordering Bangladesh, which reports outbreaks almost annually,” the WHO said.