Health experts in India are scrambling to contain an outbreak of Nipah virus, a rare bat-borne pathogen that inspired the 2011 thriller Contagion.
Two cases have been confirmed, prompting a nationwide alert as well as local quarantine and surveillance measures near Narayana Multispecialty Hospital in Barasat, West Bengal, located about 25 km from the capital city of Kolkata.
However, there are fears that the disease could be spreading undetected.
“Two nurses at a private hospital are infected with Nipah virus, and one of them is in critical condition,” health official Narayan Swaroop Nigam told the Telegraph.
The pair were on duty together from Dec. 28 to 30, and in the ensuing days, from Dec. 31 to Jan. 2, both developed high fevers and respiratory distress.
They were admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit on Jan. 4 after their conditions worsened, the outlet reported.
One of the nurses is now in a coma.
Treating patient who died
It is believed both nurses caught the virus while treating a patient with severe respiratory symptoms who later died before testing could be carried out.
That patient “is being treated as the suspected index case, and investigations are ongoing,” according to a senior health official involved in the surveillance efforts.
Aside from local quarantining and surveilling, health authorities are also conducting contact tracing in the area.
So far, 180 people have been tested and 20 high-risk contacts have been quarantined.
All are asymptomatic and tested negative, according to Nigam, and will be tested again at the end of their 21-day quarantine.
That said, India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is urging states to strengthen surveillance, detection, and preventive measures to reduce risk and prevent any further spread of the disease.
What to know about Nipah virus
The country has had at least nine documented outbreaks of Nipah, a virus that lives in bats and can be passed to humans through contaminated food or by contact with the bodily fluids of infected animals.
It has subsequently been identified in pigs, dogs, cats, horses and goats.
The virus, which has never been found in Canada, has a fatality rate of up to 75% and causes a range of symptoms, beginning with fever, vomiting and fatigue before respiratory issues and brain-swelling develops.
Because neurological issues like encephalitis can appear months or years after an initial infection, several Indian states have directed their health authorities to strengthen surveillance for new cases of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES), a broad term for brain inflammation that can be caused by Nipah infection.
“Persons admitted with AES, particularly those with travel or contact history linked to West Bengal, should be closely monitored and evaluated for possible Nipah virus infection,” an advisory issued by authorities in the southern state Tamil Nadu read.
“Government and private hospitals must be alerted about the Nipah virus situation and directed to promptly notify all AES cases.”
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