"The virus spreads from animals to humans, via person-to-person contact or through consuming contaminated food. An outbreak of the Nipah virus in India's eastern state of West Bengal has heightened concerns in China and several Southeast Asian countries, prompting them to tighten health screening operations at airports as millions prepare to travel for the Lunar New Year holiday. Since December 2025, two confirmed cases of the virus have been reported in West Bengal, India's health ministry said on Wednesday."
"It typically incubates in the human body for five to 14 days, with symptoms occurring within three to four days. It causes severe respiratory and neurological disease in humans, progressing from fever and headache to acute encephalitis (brain inflammation) in severe cases, Kaja Abbas, associate professor of infectious disease epidemiology and dynamics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Nagasaki University, said."
Two confirmed Nipah virus cases were reported in West Bengal since December 2025; both infected individuals are health workers receiving hospital treatment. A total of 196 contacts were traced; all traced contacts are asymptomatic and have tested negative. China and several Southeast Asian countries tightened airport health screening ahead of the Lunar New Year as a precaution. Nipah is a zoonotic virus transmitted from animals like fruit bats and flying foxes, via contaminated food, or directly between humans. Incubation is typically five to 14 days, with symptoms appearing within three to four days and severe cases causing respiratory and neurological disease, including acute encephalitis, convulsions, confusion, and rapid progression to coma in some patients.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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