Asian countries tighten borders over Nipah outbreak in India

Sri Lankan health officials said they were monitoring the regional situation carefully following the detection of the Nipah cases in India.

In Britain, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is responsible for managing infectious disease risks at ports of entry into the country and is understood to be monitoring the outbreak.

Like Thailand, the UK is a top destination for travellers from India, with the Delhi to Heathrow route alone accounting for approximately 164,000 seats per month, according to data from the Official Airline Guide.

While the UK has not suffered an outbreak of Nipah before, it could theoretically be brought in and then spread from person to person.

Health officials in India are continuing to investigate the outbreak, which is centred on the private Narayana Multispeciality Hospital in Barasat, West Bengal, 16 miles from the capital city Kolkata.

Both nurses caught the virus while treating a patient with severe respiratory symptoms who later died before testing could be carried out, said a senior health official involved in West Bengal’s Nipah surveillance efforts.

“That patient has been established as the index case and we will make our investigation report public soon,” he told The Telegraph.

India has faced regular outbreaks of Nipah in recent years. There are no vaccines or treatments that have been approved for use so far.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has included Nipah on its list of the top ten priority pathogens because of the possibility it could trigger an epidemic.

The virus lives in bats and can be passed to humans through contaminated food or by contact with the bodily fluids of infected animals. It passes from person to person through droplets and saliva, and can also jump from bats to pigs and then on to people.

The virus causes a range of symptoms, beginning with a fever, vomiting and fatigue before developing into respiratory issues and swelling of the brain. Neurological issues like encephalitis can appear months or years after an initial infection.

In response to the Nipah outbreak, the Indian health authorities are testing bats in West Bengal.

So far one bat has tested positive for antibodies, suggesting prior infection but no current risk of transmission, he said.

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