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India Confirms Five Nipah Cases in West Bengal Cluster Centered on Hospital Staff

WHO judges the risk of wider spread to be low given India’s capacity to contain localized outbreaks.

Overview

  • Health officials traced the cluster to exposures at a private hospital near Kolkata, with infections reported among doctors and nurses.
  • Authorities isolated cases, quarantined more than 100 contacts with roughly 190 under surveillance, and reported one nurse in a critical coma.
  • Investigators link the onset to an undiagnosed patient who died in late December, with laboratory confirmations conveyed to WHO around January 26.
  • India’s NCDC activated emergency protocols including contact tracing, high‑risk contact isolation, expanded testing of about 180 people, and mandatory full PPE in affected facilities.
  • Neighboring jurisdictions tightened entry screening at airports, while WHO provides technical support and notes no evidence of increased human‑to‑human transmission.