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'Nipah is rare but serious', warns WHO chief, says cases linked to outbreak confined to India
The global health body head also said that cases linked to the Nipah virus outbreak were limited to India and were not reported by any other country.
World Health Organisation (WHO) director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Saturday warned that cases of Nipah virus are rare but also serious. The global health body head also said that cases linked to the Nipah virus outbreak were limited to India and were not reported by any other country.
“The two case of Nipah virus infection reported by India in West Bengal are the third in this state since the virus was first identified in 1998,” Ghebreyesus worte in a post on X. He also said that authorities in India were following over 190 contacts, and none have developed the disease so far.
“Authorities have increased disease surveillance and testing, implemented prevention and control measures in health care settings, and are keeping the public informed about how to protect themselves,” he further wrote.
The WHO chief's warning came a day after the global health body said that the the virus had a ‘low risk’ of spreading and that there was no need for any travel or trade restrictions.
The health body had also said that there was no evidence of increased human-to-human transmission, and hence the risk remained low.
Two cases of Nipah virus were earlier confirmed in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, both of them nurses. However, health officials later said that their condition improved and they tested negative for the contagion. While the male nurse was discharged, the female nurse was taken off ventilator support but still kept under observation.
“Both cases developed symptoms typical of severe NiV infection in late December 2025 and were admitted to hospital in early January 2026. As of 21 January 2026, the second case showed clinical improvement, while the first case remained under critical care,” the WHO said in a release.
Nipah virus spreads from bats to humans and can happen through close contact or contaminated food, the health body had said. The symptoms linked to the virus are fever, muscle pain and headaches, which can make it more difficult to detect.
If a person gets infected by this virus, they are likely to experience swelling of the brain and the chances of death are between 40% and 75%.
