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India logs Nipah virus cases: Should we be concerned? All you need to know
Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are among the countries that tightened airport screening checks this week to guard against Nipah virus.
Two cases of Nipah virus in West Bengal have the authorities of India, China and other Southeast Asian countries scrambling to reduce the risk of spread. Amid the panic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has offered some relief with its ‘low risk’ statement.
Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are among the Asian locations that tightened airport screening checks this week to guard against such a spread after the infections were confirmed in West Bengal.
So, are a couple of Nipah virus cases a cause for concern for the wider public anywhere? Here is what we know.
Should Nipah virus cases concern the wider public?
The WHO said in a statement on Friday that there is a low risk of the deadly Nipah virus spreading from India, adding that it did not recommend travel or trade curbs after two infections were reported by the country.
"The WHO considers the risk of further spread of infection from these two cases is low," the agency told Reuters, adding that India had the capacity to contain such outbreaks.
"There is no evidence yet of increased human-to-human transmission," it said, adding that it has coordinated with Indian health authorities.
The two health workers infected in West Bengal late in December are being treated in hospital, local authorities have said.
India regularly reports sporadic Nipah infections, particularly in Kerala, regarded as one of the world's highest-risk regions for the virus, linked to dozens of deaths since it first emerged there in 2018.
According to the UN health body, 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 global health agency said that the source of infection was not yet fully understood. It classifies Nipah as a priority pathogen because of a lack of licensed vaccines or treatments, a high fatality rate, and a fear that it could mutate into a more transmissible variant.
How does the Nipah virus spread?
The Nipah virus, first identified in Malaysia in 1999, is carried by fruit bats and other animals, such as pigs, and can cause fever and brain inflammation. It has a fatality rate ranging from 40% to 75%, with no cure, though vaccines in development are still being tested.
The virus spreads to humans from infected bats or from fruit they contaminate, but person-to-person transmission is rare and typically requires prolonged contact with an infected person.
Small outbreaks are not unusual, and virologists say the risk to the general population remains low.
Are airport screenings effective against Nipah?
Several countries, including China, have started screening travellers arriving on flights from areas where the Nipah virus outbreak has been reported, including India.
Swab tests were being conducted on passengers, some Indian travellers arriving in Beijing told news agency PTI. Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam have also tightened screening at airports
Scientists say, however, that it is unlikely to spread globally, and also point out that airport screening may be ineffective as the virus has a long incubation period.
