In the wake of fresh Nipah virus outbreak in West Bengal State, few countries including Thailand, Nepal and Taiwan have initiated screening passengers arriving from India.
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In the wake of fresh Nipah virus outbreak in West Bengal State, few countries including Thailand, Nepal and Taiwan have initiated screening passengers arriving from India at major international airports in a measure to reduce the risk of cross-border transmission of the deadly disease. Allaying fears amid growing concerns, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday issued an official statement informing that only two cases of the Nipah virus Disease (NiVD) have been confirmed in West Bengal since last December and no new cases have been detected, even as it termed the figures reported in certain sections of the media as “speculative and incorrect”. Stating that prompt and comprehensive public health measures have been initiated in accordance with established protocols to contain the spread of the virus, the centre said all the traced 196 contacts linked to the confirmed cases have been tested negative for the virus and found asymptomatic. It is reassuring to know that the centre is closely monitoring the situation in collaboration with the state health agencies besides heightening preventive measures like enhancing surveillance and testing. The successful containment of the spread of the virus in Kerala, which has reported several outbreaks in the recent past, including last year, should serve as a model for restraining infectious diseases. It is proven that robust health systems, timely detection and diagnosis, intensive surveillance and contact tracing, quarantining of high-risk contacts, data-driven decision-making and public vigilance are vital to prevent transmission and mortality.
While India has been successful in containing the Nipah virus from spreading to unaffected states, the frequency of the outbreak in Kerala and West Bengal states (particularly the former) is worrying. For now, only these states have been affected but other areas are not immune to the virus, hence the need to invest in healthcare system and early-warning infrastructure besides behavioural changes. Such measures are imperative considering the high fatality rate and the absence of a vaccine and specific medicine to treat the disease. The relevant authorities and health experts should also examine how Malaysia successfully halted the further outbreak of the virus since it was first reported in the country in 1998. Experts have also suggested that factors such as food scarcity, deforestation, habitat loss, and climate change may have contributed to the emergence of the zoonotic infection, indicating that the virus is here to stay and we have to live with it. The way forward to control the spread of the disease is surveillance, awareness and managing wildlife, particularly improving habitats of fruit bats, which are primary carriers of the deadly virus.