Nipah virus cases reported in West Bengal: Two nurses infected, surveillance and quarantine stepped up

Two confirmed cases and an urgent containment response

Health authorities in India have confirmed two Nipah virus infections in West Bengal, involving two nurses at a private hospital near Kolkata. One of the nurses is reportedly in critical condition and in a coma. The cases prompted quarantine, contact-tracing and expanded surveillance due to Nipah’s high fatality risk and the absence of a specific cure or vaccine.

Suspected source: exposure linked to a patient

Officials said an initial investigation suggested the two nurses may have contracted the virus after treating a patient who had severe respiratory symptoms and later died before testing could be completed. The patient is being treated as a suspected index case while investigators work to map possible chains of exposure.

Testing and quarantine updates

As per the update cited in the report, around 180 people had been tested by January 20 and 20 high-risk contacts were placed under quarantine, with tests returning negative so far. Authorities indicated that quarantined contacts would be monitored and tested again at the end of the isolation period.

Surveillance extends to bats due to zoonotic risk

Nipah is a zoonotic disease, meaning it can spread between animals and humans, and it has also shown human-to-human transmission in outbreaks. The report said officials expanded sampling and surveillance, including collecting samples from bats at Kolkata’s Alipore Zoo, given fruit bats are a suspected reservoir in Nipah transmission.