Overview
- The World Health Organization confirmed a woman in northern Bangladesh died in late January from Nipah virus after consuming raw date palm sap, with all 35 monitored contacts testing negative.
- Indian authorities identified two Nipah infections among nurses in West Bengal in January, confirmed by RT‑PCR at NIV Pune, and report no additional cases after tracing and testing about 196 contacts.
- WHO assesses the risk of international spread as low and advises against travel or trade restrictions at this time.
- Several Asian countries, including Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Vietnam and Hong Kong, have maintained precautionary airport screening.
- Experts note human‑to‑human transmission is limited, there is no approved vaccine or specific treatment, and targeted measures such as isolation, rapid diagnostics and One Health investigations remain the focus.