The state of West Bengal in India faces a new outbreak of the deadly Nipah virusafter confirming two cases and the preventive isolation of 190 people for having had contact with those infected. After this, the health authorities have issued this Monday a epidemiological alert.
“So far, only two patients have tested positive. The remaining contacts, approximately 190 have been sent to quarantineand those who showed symptoms have also undergone the test,” confirmed the Deputy Deputy Director of Health of the Government of West Bengal, Subarna Goswami, to the Indian agency. YEARS.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Nipah virus is a zoonotic pathogen that transmitted from animals to humansmainly through fruit bats or pigs, as well as through contaminated food or directly between people.
Between people, it can mainly be transmitted through respiratory secretions and salivawhich makes it a threat that is difficult to contain in contexts of high population density—India being the most populous country in the world where more than 1.4 billion people live.
The infection causes from asymptomatic symptoms to acute respiratory diseases and fatal encephalitiswith an estimated mortality rate between 40% and 75%, and for which there is currently no treatment or vaccine, the agency reported.
In fact, two nurses from a private hospital, about 25 kilometers from Calcutta, who shared a shift in the last days of December, began to present serious symptoms such as high fever and difficulty breathing a few days later.
After presenting a rapid clinical deterioration, on January 4 they were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Currently, one of them remains in a coma.
The main hypothesis is that both treated a patient with severe respiratory symptoms who died before the infection could be confirmed.
Emergency protocols
The National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) activated the emergency protocols through a technical circular detailing the characteristics of the virus and the urgent measures that must be taken to avoid contagion.
The Ministry of Health has urged to reinforce security in hospitals in the affected area, imposing the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical personnel due to fear of human-to-human transmission.
Experts warn that the emergency remains active. Goswami himself warned that more cases may appear and stressed that “this is not the time to say that the outbreak is over.”
“Since the Nipah incubation period varies from 4 to 45 dayswe will have to look for active cases and follow up to your contacts. They must be kept under supervision. Only then, after three months, will we be able to say that a third case has not appeared and that the outbreak has ended,” the expert stated.
In accordance with the current health alert, India registered its first human outbreaks in West Bengal in 2001 y 2007when at least 50 deaths were recorded.
From 2018the cases have been concentrated in the state of Kerala, in the south of the country, where the last outbreak occurred in July 2025 and left three infected and two dead.
He Fear of the spread of the virus has spread across Asialeading territories such as Thailand, Nepal or Hong Kong to activate screening points at some of their airports, with measures such as temperature checks and health declaration forms.
For his part, Dr. Sophon Iamsirithavorn, Thai undersecretary of public health, explained this Monday that “it is estimated that the Nipah virus is around 40 times less transmissible than Covid-19, but it is more virulentprompting Thailand to maintain greater vigilance.”