Nipah virus reported in India previously included in China’s monitor list; Chinese experts say transmission capacity remains quite limited

Several regional countries have stepped up health screening after Indian authorities reported five cases of a deadly, incurable virus near one of the country’s largest cities, prompting efforts to contain the outbreak, according to media reports. The virus was included in China’s updated list of monitored infectious diseases released in December 2024.

The bat-borne Nipah virus has been identified in West Bengal, close to the state capital Kolkata, India’s third-most populous city, prompting urgent contact tracing and quarantines. Authorities confirmed that three new infections were reported this week, according to officials cited by the Press Trust of India news agency, per the report by Daily Mail.

As early as on December 30, 2024, Nipah virus disease was included in an updated list of infectious diseases under surveillance released by China’s National Disease Control and Prevention Administration and the General Administration of Customs, alongside COVID-19, HIV/AIDS and other major infectious diseases, according to a release from the Chinese government website.

According to the World Health Organization and other health bodies, the Nipah virus primarily targets the lungs and brain. Symptoms include fever, headache, drowsiness, confusion, and coma, with a mortality rate exceeding 40 percent among infected patients, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.

Earlier, Indian authorities are rushing to contain a Nipah virus outbreak after five cases were reported, with two cases of nurses involved, The Independent reported.

Contact with a patient’s secretions or excreta can lead to human-to-human transmission, meaning the virus carries a risk of nosocomial infection and household or family spread, said Feng Zijian, a former deputy director general of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The virus, with a mortality rate exceeding 40 percent, is highly pathogenic, yet its transmission capacity remains quite limited, Zhuang Shilihe, a Guangzhou-based medical expert, told the Global Times, citing his observation over contact tracing during previous sporadic regional outbreaks worldwide.

The expert, Feng, said that quarantine authorities would likely strengthen quarantine and control measures for people entering China from India and that relevant arrangements and considerations would be made in this regard.

Bangkok-based news Khaosod English reported that Thailand has stepped up health screening at major airports for passengers arriving from West Bengal, India, following reports of a Nipah virus outbreak in the region, according to PR Thai Government.

International disease control checkpoints at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports began screening arriving passengers on 25 January. Authorities said operations were running smoothly, with cooperation from airlines, Airports of Thailand, immigration officials and other relevant agencies.

Phuket International Airport has also heightened its preparedness, strengthening disease surveillance and screening measures for flights linked to the affected area. Airport officials said screening operations have been integrated with the International Communicable Disease Control Checkpoint to monitor arriving passengers and prevent potential transmission.

According to the Korea Herald, South Korea has also previously designated Nipah virus infection as a first-tier infectious disease, a classification for the most dangerous outbreaks with a high fatality rate that require immediate reporting and isolation.

Global Times