Indian authorities have ramped up their safety measures to contain aNipah virus outbreak in West Bengal after five people tested positive. According to the report, nearly 100 people have been asked to remain in home quarantine as a precaution. The cases were reported from Barasat, near Kolkata, and nearby areas.
According to PTI, the first two patients, a male nurse and a female nurse working at a private hospital in Barasat, North 24 Parganas district, remain in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Three more cases, a doctor, a nurse, and a health staff member, were reported later and admitted to the infectious diseases hospital in Beleghata.
Nipah virus cases trigger health alert in West Bengal
A senior official from theWest Bengal Health Department told PTI, “The condition of the male nurse is improving, but the female patient remains very critical. Both are being treated in the ICCU.” Sources at the Barasat hospital confirmed that the male nurse is now clinically stable, able to walk and talk, and being fed. The female nurse, however, remains comatose and continues to receive high-dose antibiotics and antiviral treatment.
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After the first case was detected on Monday, authorities began tracing contacts. As a precaution, almost 100 people have been told to isolate at home, government officials confirmed.
Nipah virus symptoms usually begin like the flu — fever, headache, cough, sore throat, and body aches — within 4 to 14 days. But the illness can turn serious, affecting the brain and causing confusion, drowsiness, disorientation, seizures, and even coma. Early detection of fever, headache, and breathing problems, followed by any neurological signs, is crucial.
Why Nipah virus is a serious concern
The Nipah virus spreads from animals to humans and is listed as a priority pathogen by the World Health Organisation (WHO), given the potential to cause outbreaks. Currently, there is no vaccine to prevent Nipah infection and no specific treatment to cure it, which makes early detection and isolation crucial.
India has seen Nipah cases almost every year, and health experts have time and again warned about its zoonotic nature, meaning it jumps from animals to humans. The virus is commonly found in certain species of bats, especially fruit bats.
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Speaking to the Independent, Rajeev Jayadevan, former president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Cochin, explained how humans usually get infected. “The infection among humans is rare and caused by the accidental spillover due to human-bat interface, which means consumption of fruits that could have been infected by bats,” he said. He added that the risk is higher in specific regions. “This is more likely in rural and forest-adjacent areas where agricultural practices increase contact between humans and fruit bats searching for food,” Jayadevan said.
Deadly history of Nipah in India
Over the years, the Nipah virus has caused the deaths of dozens of people in Kerala since it was first detected there in 2018. The virus was originally identified in 1998, during an outbreak among pig farmers in Malaysia and Singapore. It spreads through bodily fluids of infected bats and pigs, and in some cases, from human to human. |
