INDIA REPORTS TWO NEW CASES OF DEADLY NIPAH VIRUS

 NEW DELHI, Jan 28 (Bernama-dpa) -- India has reported two new infections with the dangerous Nipah virus, German Press Agency (dpa) reported. 

"As per reports received from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), only two confirmed cases of Nipah Virus Disease have been reported in West Bengal from December last year to date," the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday evening.

Circulating reports of further infection cases are false, the ministry said.

In response to the two infection cases, surveillance, lab tests and on-site investigations have been intensified, it added.

Other Asian countries reacted to the localised outbreak in India with increased precautionary measures. 

In Thailand, travellers from Kolkata — the capital of the state of West Bengal — have been checked at three major airports since the weekend, Health Minister Pattana Promphat said.

Temperature checks are being conducted at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports in Bangkok, as well as in Phuket.

By Tuesday, 1,700 passengers had been tested, all of whom returned negative results. “There is no reason to panic,” the minister stressed.

The virus is significantly harder to transmit from person to person than the coronavirus, he said.

According to the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) in Hamburg, the Nipah virus infection is a rather rare but severe viral disease that can affect both humans and animals. 

The virus naturally occurs in fruit bats but can also be transmitted to other animals and humans. "In humans, it can reach a mortality rate of up to 92 per cent," the BNITM said.

Transmission from person to person is possible through close contact via droplets in the air, coughing or sneezing. 

-- BERNAMA-DPA