Nipah cases in India raise regional anxiety but experts say wider spread unlikely

A small cluster of Nipah virus infections reported in eastern India has sparked regional anxiety because of the disease’s high fatality rate, prompting countries across Asia to tighten health screening ahead of the Lunar New Year travel rush, even as experts say the outbreak is likely to remain contained.That assessment follows confirmation by Indian authorities of two Nipah cases in West Bengal, but analysts have said the limited numbers, combined with the time that has passed since the infections were detected, point to a contained outbreak rather than an escalating public health threat.The cases have nevertheless prompted precautionary measures elsewhere in the region, with Thailand stepping up screening, including temperature checks and health declaration forms, at major airports for passengers arriving from West Bengal, and Nepal increasing monitoring at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport and along land borders with India, officials said.Other countries have also moved to heighten vigilance. Cambodia has begun screening travellers arriving from India, while Indonesia has tightened health checks for incoming international passengers at Jakarta’s main airport, according to official statements and regional media reports.India’s Ministry of Health said on Tuesday that “speculative and incorrect figures regarding Nipah virus Disease cases are being circulated in certain sections of the media”, a reference to reports citing higher case numbers at a hospital in Kolkata, and stressed that only two cases had been centrally confirmed in West Bengal since December.It said 196 people who had come into contact with the infected individuals were asymptomatic and had all tested negative.