Govt remains vigilant about Nipah situation in Bengal

Bhubaneswar: Odisha govt remains vigilant about the Nipah virus situation unfolding in West Bengal. The health and family welfare department will take necessary steps after getting an advisory from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). So far, no Nipah virus case has been detected in the state.Director of public health, Odisha, Nilakantha Mishra, said NCDC issues alerts to states after it finds any trace of contagious viruses like the Nipah virus in public. “So far, NCDC has not issued any alert to Odisha. They are assessing the situation. If they alert us, we will start following the standard operating procedure to prevent the spread of the virus,” he added.Mishra said they are keeping an eye on the situation. “Last time, we received an advisory on the Nipah virus in 2023 after Kerala reported several cases. The 2 cases (hospital staff) detected in West Bengal are undergoing treatment, and no further case has been reported. We should not worry much, as no community transmission of the virus has been reported,” he added. He said they were waiting for the Centre’s advisory on the Nipah virus. “We are aware of the situation,” he said.Manojit Bhattacharya, assistant professor of zoology, Fakir Mohan University, Balasore, who conducted research on the Nipah virus, said the 2 samples taken from a hospital in West Bengal tested positive at ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. “This virus is very contagious, and the mortality rate in this viral disease is high, ranging from 40% to 70%. It infected India 5 times before,” he added.He said there is no licensed treatment regime for Nipah virus infection. “A vaccine is yet to be developed to prevent the disease. We are also trying to develop a potential therapeutic element by using computational biology. We published our findings in 2 successive research articles on the Nipah virus in international journals. We hope the scientific community gets a breakthrough to get a potential vaccine candidate for the viral disease,” he added.