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India’s Nipah virus outbreak leaves five infected and nearly 100 quarantined; Thailand begins screening passengers from India: media report

WHO sees low risk of Nipah virus spreading beyond India

There is a low risk of the deadly Nipah virus spreading from India, the World Health Organization said on Friday, adding that it did not recommend travel or trade curbs after two infections reported by the South Asian nation.

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 India confirmed infections.

"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, 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.

But it did not rule out further exposure to the virus, which circulates in the bat population in parts of India and neighbouring Bangladesh.

Carried by fruit bats and animals such as pigs, the virus 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.

It spreads to humans from infected bats, or fruit they contaminate, but person-to-person transmission is not easy as it typically requires prolonged contact with those infected.

Small outbreaks are not unusual and virologists say the risk to the general population remains low.

The source of infection was not yet fully understood, said the WHO. It classifies Nipah as a priority pathogen because of a lack of licensed vaccines or treatments, a high fatality rate, and a fear it could mutate into a more transmissible variant.

NIPAH NOT NEW TO INDIA

The two health workers infected in India's eastern state of West Bengal late in December are being treated in hospital, local authorities have said.

India regularly reports sporadic Nipah infections, particularly in its southern state of 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.

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.

WHO said the same about Covid.
 
They have no respect for the deaths of their own citizens, nothing new . Anything to defend the cult regime .

India has hygiene issues which are a threat to everyone in this global world . Must be addressed

Correct.

I am surprised they don't have more viruses there.

Maybe they have but they suppress the news.
 

2 More Healthcare Workers With Nipah Symptoms Admitted To Bengal Hospital​


The two were engaged in the treatment of a health worker who tested positive for the Nipah virus at Burdwan Medical College and Hospital.


Two more nurses were on Wednesday admitted to the Beliaghata ID Hospital here after they showed symptoms of the Nipah virus infection, a health department official said.

The two were engaged in the treatment of a health worker who tested positive for the Nipah virus at Burdwan Medical College and Hospital.

One of the duo was brought to the city hospital on late January 13 night, while the other, a house staff member, was shifted from the Bardhaman facility on early Wednesday, he added.

"These two health workers have symptoms of being infected with the Nipah virus. Their samples have been collected and sent for examination," the health department official said.

The two healthcare workers had treated that nurse, who tested positive for the contagion, when she was admitted to the Burdwan Medical College and Hospital.

"Both developed symptoms and were subsequently taken to Beleghata ID Hospital," the official said.

Meanwhile, the health condition of two other nurses, who had earlier tested positive for Nipah infection and are admitted at Barasat Hospital, remained extremely critical.

"They are still in a coma and admitted to the ICCU," the official said.

Incidentally, a resident medical officer (RMO) at Barasat hospital, who had been in contact with the infected nurses, also showed symptoms of Nipah, he said.

"The RMO has been placed under isolation, though tests conducted at the Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) at Kalyani AIIMS, including nasal swab, blood, urine, and throat swab, came negative," he added.

Nipah virus is a notifiable disease, requiring immediate reporting to the central government.


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