by Sharelle B. McNair
January 27, 2026
Knowledge from the World Well being Group revealed the pure host of Nipah virus comes from fruit bats and could be transmitted from pigs, contaminated meals, and direct human-to-human contact.
Well being officers in India are waving crimson flags and warnings in opposition to the Nipah Virus, a lethal and incurable virus labeled as zoonotic — that means it impacts each animals and folks, Individuals experiences.
Two nurses working at non-public hospitals close to Kolkata, West Bengal, had been suspected of being contaminated after working collectively between Dec. 28 and Dec. 30. Days later, between Dec. 31 and Jan. 2, each healthcare professionals began to have excessive fevers and skilled respiratory misery.
After an preliminary investigation, well being officers recommended each nurses caught the virus from a affected person who died earlier than being examined for Nipah, who got here in with extreme respiratory signs. The nurses had been each admitted Jan. 4 to the intensive care unit following worsening situations, together with one nurse being in a coma.
“The most definitely supply of an infection is a affected person who had been admitted to the identical hospital beforehand,” one senior well being official serving in West Bengal’s Nipah surveillance efforts mentioned.
“That particular person is being handled because the suspected index case, and investigations are ongoing.”
Nevertheless, there appears to be somewhat extra to the story.
Knowledge from the World Well being Group revealed that the pure host of the Nipah virus is fruit bats and that it may be transmitted from pigs, contaminated meals, and direct human-to-human contact. Researchers have additionally collected blood and swab samples from bats at Kolkata’s Alipore Zoo to rule out an infection.
Narayan Swaroop Nigam, principal secretary of well being and household welfare in West Bengal, has begun implementing quarantine and surveillance measures because the variety of examined folks has reached 180. Twenty high-risk contacts have been quarantined.
Since officers spotlight preventative measures already put in place, they insist there’s “no purpose for rapid panic.” “All of them are asymptomatic and examined unfavorable. We are going to once more check them earlier than their 21-day quarantine ends,” Nigam mentioned, in keeping with USA In the present day.
In a put up on X, India’s Ministry of Well being shared “do’s and don’ts” for stopping Nipah virus an infection. Just like the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, folks ought to proceed to scrub their fingers and put on protecting clothes when round or dealing with animals.
The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) launched signs to concentrate on as they sometimes seem 4 to 14 days after an infection, comparable to fever, headache, cough, sore throat, and problem respiratory. Extra critical signs embody encephalitis, one other phrase for mind swelling, which might finally trigger drowsiness, seizures, or comas.
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