Indian health authorities have activated a health alert after confirming five cases of the Nipah virus in West Bengal, near Kolkata, the country's third most populous city. Among the infected are a doctor, a nurse, and a healthcare worker, while one of the nurses is in critical condition and in a coma after attending to a patient who died before his infection was confirmed
The virus, primarily transmitted by fruit bats and capable of spreading between people, can rapidly evolve from mild symptoms such as fever, headache or muscle pain, vomiting, and sore throat, to brain inflammation and coma within 24 to 48 hours. With a mortality rate ranging from 40% to 75%, there is no available treatment or vaccine
In response to the outbreak, 180 people have been examined and 20 high-risk contacts have been quarantined. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified Nipah as a priority pathogen and has called for accelerated research and development of vaccines for both humans and animals, given its epidemic potential.
