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The World Health Organization (WHO) says the risk of wider spread of the Nipah virus remains low, despite three recent confirmed infections in India and Bangladesh that raised regional concern.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters that the UN health body conducted a regional and global risk assessment following the new cases and found no indication of a broader outbreak.
Nipah is a zoonotic virus, meaning it spreads from animals to humans, primarily through fruit bats — its natural reservoir — or contaminated food. It can also spread through close human contact. The virus has no approved vaccine, and its fatality rate ranges between 40% and 75%, making rapid detection and containment critical.
Two cases were recently detected in India’s West Bengal state, while one patient died in Bangladesh. WHO noted the outbreaks are not directly linked, though both occurred near the India–Bangladesh border, where similar ecological conditions and bat populations exist.
Health experts stress that while the current risk is considered low, vigilance remains essential, especially in areas where human activity overlaps with bat habitats.
Nipah was first identified in 1998 during an outbreak among pig farmers in Malaysia. India has experienced multiple clusters since — including a deadly outbreak in Kerala in 2018 that killed 17 people and additional fatalities reported in later years.
Symptoms typically begin with high fever, vomiting, and respiratory illness, but severe infections can progress to brain inflammation, seizures, coma, and death.
