Global health officials are on high alert following reports of new Nipah virus infections in West Bengal, India, sparking fears of a possible outbreak of the highly dangerous disease.

Authorities confirmed that at least five people have tested positive, including two nurses from a private hospital. According to Narayan Swaroop Nigam, Principal Secretary of the Health and Family Welfare Department, one of the nurses is currently in critical condition. Both healthcare workers reportedly developed symptoms after working together at the hospital between December 28 and 30 and were admitted to intensive care on January 4.

In response, officials have placed nearly 100 people under quarantine as a precautionary measure to contain the bat-borne virus. Several neighboring countries, including Thailand, Nepal, and Taiwan, have already introduced stricter airport health screenings to prevent the illness from crossing borders.

The World Health Organization (WHO) lists Nipah as a priority pathogen because of its ability to cause serious outbreaks. Experts warn that the virus has a fatality rate ranging from 40% to 75 percent, depending on how quickly cases are detected and how well patients can be treated.

Early symptoms of Nipah infection often resemble the flu and may include fever, headaches, muscle pain, vomiting, and sore throat. In more severe cases, patients can develop breathing problems such as coughing, shortness of breath, or pneumonia. The most dangerous complication is encephalitis — swelling of the brain — which can lead to confusion, seizures, loss of consciousness, and even coma.

Nipah is a zoonotic virus, meaning it spreads from animals to humans, especially through contact with infected fruit bats or pigs, contaminated food, or close contact with an infected person.

While Covid-19 had a global fatality rate of about 3.4 percent, Nipah is considered far more lethal. There is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment available. Symptoms usually appear within four to 21 days, although in rare cases, they may take longer to develop.

Medical experts stress that past Nipah outbreaks have mostly remained limited to certain parts of Asia, and there is no evidence so far of sustained global transmission.