Daijiworld Media Network - Kolkata

Kolkata, Jan 24: The number of confirmed Nipah virus (NiV) cases in West Bengal has risen to five as of January 23, state health authorities said, prompting intensified surveillance and containment measures.

Officials said nearly 100 people who came into close contact with the infected individuals have been quarantined and placed under medical observation.

The three latest infections include a doctor, a nurse and a health worker, all linked to the same private hospital where two nurses had earlier tested positive. The newly infected patients have been shifted to the infectious diseases hospital at Beleghata in eastern Kolkata.

The outbreak, centred near Kolkata, was first detected after two nurses—one male and one female—tested positive while working at a private hospital in Barasat. According to the West Bengal health department, the condition of the male nurse is improving, while the female patient remains in a very critical condition. Both are undergoing treatment in the ICCU.

Nipah virus is a bat-borne disease that can spread to humans through infected animals such as bats or pigs, contaminated food, or, in some cases, through close contact with infected persons.

Since 1998, Nipah outbreaks have been reported in Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore. In India, infections have occurred intermittently since 2001, with earlier outbreaks in West Bengal in 2001 and 2007, and repeated outbreaks in Kerala since 2018. Kerala alone has reported nine Nipah outbreaks since then.