The West Bengal government on Monday said that two cases of Nipah virus have been detected in the state. Both the affected individuals are medical staffers of a private hospital in Barasat in North 24 Parganas district and are admitted there, the government said.
“Both, aged between 22 and 25 (male and female), had travelled to Purba Bardhaman for personal reasons, but have no history of travel outside the state… They are employees of a private hospital in Barasat and are currently undergoing treatment at that facility,” West Bengal Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty told mediapersons.
The chief secretary said the Health Department has started contact tracing. “The authorities are investigating how the two individuals contracted the virus and are identifying everyone who had come into contact with them,” she said.
Sources said that the Health Department officials held a high-level meeting with infectious disease specialists and experts, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee personally monitoring the situation.
A state government team also visited the Barasat hospital.
A National Joint Outbreak Response team is being sent to West Bengal to help the state in preventing the spread of the infection, sources in the Union Health Ministry said.
Union Health Minister JP Nadda called Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and assured her Centre’s full support, officials in Delhi said.
The West Bengal government has also activated helpline numbers – 033-2333-0180 and 98747-08858 – to address public concerns.
Urging people not to panic, West Bengal Health Secretary Narayan Swaroop Nigam said, “The state government has taken all precautionary measures to prevent the spread of Nipah virus. We have adequate capacity to test Nipah virus cases, with nodal contact hospitals identified and emergency protocols in place. Family members of both patients are also under close medical surveillance.”
Chief Secretary Chakarborty said an SOP has been prepared and people are advised to avoid consuming fruits or food items that may have been contaminated by bats, which are known carriers of the virus.
Nipah is a viral infection that mainly affects animals such as bats, pigs, dogs, and horses, but can jump to humans who come in contact with infected animals and cause serious illness. It can be transmitted through food items such as fruit or date palm sap that has been contaminated with bodily fluids of an infected animal, usually bats.
Nipah usually presents as fever and swelling of the brain and can be highly fatal.
Outbreaks of Nipah are not very common in India, with the latest cases being reported from Kerala. West Bengal had seen a Nipah outbreak in 2001 in Siliguri.
India has in store an experimental monoclonal antibody developed by Australia, which, given early on in the disease progression, can prevent severe disease.
The national response team comprises experts from the All India Institute of Health and Public Hygiene, Kolkata; National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune; National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE), Chennai; AIIMS Kalyani; and the Department of Wildlife, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. For all outbreaks, the Centre now constitutes a multi-disciplinary team with plant and animal experts following a ‘one-health’ approach.
In addition to this national response team, the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC) at the National Centre for Disease Control-Delhi has been activated to coordinate the national response.
— with ENS, New Delhi