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West Bengal Nipah Cluster Contained as Japan, Pakistan Rate Risk Low

Precautionary screening continues, highlighting diagnostic gaps that call for broader surveillance.

Overview

  • Indian health teams traced 196 contacts from the two West Bengal cases and found no secondary infections, indicating effective containment.
  • The World Health Organization and Japan's health ministry assess the risk of wider spread as low, and Japan has reported no cases.
  • Pakistan infectious-disease experts report no detected cases and note the lack of in-country Nipah testing, with suspected samples to be sent to the NIH.
  • Airports across several Asian countries have implemented precautionary screening to support early detection and preparedness.
  • Researchers identified Pteropine orthoreovirus in Bangladesh patients with Nipah-like illness, underscoring the need to widen diagnostics beyond Nipah.