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Akbar Novruz

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India has moved swiftly to contain a fresh outbreak of the Nipah virus in the eastern state of West Bengal, after several confirmed cases—including infections among doctors and nurses—raised concerns about hospital-based transmission. Local authorities have placed dozens of people under home quarantine, while infected patients are being treated in medical facilities in and around Kolkata. At least one patient is reported to be in critical condition.

Nipah is no ordinary virus. Classified by the World Health Organization as a high-risk pathogen, it has no approved vaccine or specific cure. Although human infections remain rare, outbreaks tend to provoke outsized anxiety among public health officials—and for good reason. When Nipah appears, it does so abruptly, spreads quietly at first, and can turn deadly with alarming speed.

What is the Nipah virus?

Nipah virus (NiV) is a zoonotic disease, meaning it jumps from animals to humans. Its natural hosts are fruit bats of the Pteropus genus, widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia. Spillover to humans often occurs through contact with bats or animals infected by bats, or by consuming fruit or other food contaminated with bat saliva, urine, or droppings. Once inside the human population, the virus can also spread from person to person, particularly through close contact with bodily fluids—a fact that makes hospital settings especially vulnerable.

Symptoms that hide in plain sight

One of Nipah’s most dangerous traits is how ordinary it looks at the start. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the incubation period usually ranges from four to 21 days, though longer delays have been documented. Early symptoms often resemble a common flu: fever, headache, muscle pain, and fatigue. Some patients also develop respiratory problems, including cough, breathing difficulties, or pneumonia, but these signs can appear at different stages and with varying severity.

The illness becomes far more serious when it reaches the brain. Encephalitis—inflammation of the brain—is the defining and most feared complication of Nipah infection. Days or even weeks after the initial symptoms, patients may develop confusion, altered consciousness, seizures, or fall into a coma. In some cases, meningitis has also been reported.

Nipah’s lethality sets it apart from many other emerging infections. Fatality rates have ranged from around 40 to as high as 75 per cent, depending on the outbreak and the viral strain involved. Even survival does not always mark the end of the ordeal. Health authorities in the UK and elsewhere warn that survivors may suffer long-term neurological consequences, including persistent seizures or lasting personality changes. In rare instances, encephalitis can recur months or even years later, due to relapse or reactivation of the virus.

Why West Bengal matters?

India has encountered Nipah before, most notably in southern states, where aggressive contact tracing and isolation helped prevent wider spread. The appearance of the virus in West Bengal—particularly with infections among healthcare workers—underscores both the effectiveness and the limits of modern disease surveillance. Rapid response can contain outbreaks, but the absence of a vaccine means prevention still relies heavily on early detection, strict infection control, and public awareness.

For now, the numbers remain small. Yet Nipah’s history suggests that complacency is not an option. In a world still shaped by the memory of COVID-19, even a handful of cases is enough to remind governments that the next health crisis rarely announces itself loudly—it starts quietly, on the margins, before demanding full attention.