Overview
- India’s health ministry said only two laboratory-confirmed Nipah infections have been identified in West Bengal, correcting earlier reports that suggested five cases.
- Officials reported 196 contacts quarantined for monitoring and testing, with infections linked to staff at a private hospital near Kolkata.
- Thailand is screening arrivals from West Bengal at Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang and Phuket airports, and its prime minister said no domestic cases have been detected.
- Nepal began screening at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport and key land borders, and Taiwan is moving to list Nipah as a Category 5 notifiable disease following a public comment period.
- Nipah is a WHO priority pathogen with reported fatality rates of roughly 40–75 percent, no licensed vaccine, and an incubation period typically of 4–14 days.