Nipah virus fears trigger airport checks across Asia after India confirms two cases

NEW DELHI/BANGKOK/SINGAPORE/LAHORE – Two cases of the deadly Nipah virus in India have prompted the authorities in Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia, among other Asian countries, to step up airport screening in an effort to prevent the infection from spreading.

The virus, which is carried by fruit bats and animals such as pigs, can cause fever and brain inflammation and has a fatality rate of between 40 per cent and 75 per cent. Although it can spread from person to person, transmission is not easy and typically requires prolonged contact with an infected individual.

It more commonly spreads to humans from infected bats, or fruit contaminated by them.

The infections were confirmed in India in late December. Small-scale outbreaks are not unusual and virologists said the risk to the general population remained low. Several vaccines are in development but are still undergoing testing.

“While vigilance is warranted, there is no evidence to suggest a broader public health threat at this stage,” said Dr Efstathios Giotis, a lecturer in molecular virology at the University of Essex in Britain.

Indian health workers infected

The two people infected in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal in late December were health workers and both are under treatment at a local hospital, a district health officer told Reuters.

The authorities have identified and traced 196 contacts linked to the two cases with none showing symptoms and all testing negative for the virus, the Indian Health Ministry said in a statement late on Jan 27.

“Speculative and incorrect figures regarding Nipah virus disease cases are being circulated,” the statement said. “Enhanced surveillance, laboratory testing, and field investigations were undertaken... which ensured timely containment of the cases.”

Reports of the infections put the authorities on alert in neighbouring South-east Asian nations as well as Nepal and Hong Kong.

Temperature screening at Singapore airports

Singapore’s Communicable Diseases Agency said on Jan 28 that it will set up temperature screening at its airports for flights arriving from areas affected by the infections in India.

“We are also reaching out to our counterparts in South Asia, to better understand the situation. Work is ongoing to establish a global platform for countries to report genome sequencing of detected cases,” the agency said in a statement.

A Hong Kong airport authority spokesperson said it was facilitating enhanced health screening measures enforced by the health department at Hong Kong International Airport, including temperature check at gates for passengers arriving from India.

Designated aircraft parking in Thailand

Thailand earlier this week tightened airport screening measures, with neighbouring Malaysia following suit.

Thailand has assigned designated parking bays for aircraft arriving from areas with Nipah infections, its health ministry said, while passengers must complete health declarations before clearing immigration.

Malaysia’s health ministry said it was boosting preparedness through health screening at international ports of entry, particularly for arrivals from countries deemed at risk.

China’s disease control authority said on Jan 27 that no Nipah infections had been detected in the country but there were risks of imported cases, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Nepal, which shares a busy border with India, said it was on “high alert” and had tightened screening for travellers.

Thermal screening at borders of Pakistan, Vietnam

Pakistan was on Jan 29 the latest Asian country to order enhanced screening of people entering the country for signs of infections of the virus.

“It has become imperative to strengthen preventative and surveillance measures at Pakistan’s borders,” the country’s Border Health Services department said in a statement.

“All travellers shall undergo thermal screening and clinical assessment at the point of entry,” which includes seaports, land borders and airports, the department added.

The agency said travellers would need to provide transit history for the preceding 21-day period to check whether they had been through “Nipah-affected or high-risk regions”.

There are no direct flights between Pakistan and India and travel between the two countries is extremely limited, particularly since their worst fighting in decades in May 2025.

In Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital’s health department on Jan 28 also ordered the screening of incoming passengers at Noi Bai airport, particularly those arriving from India and the eastern state of West Bengal.

Passengers will be checked with body temperature scanners to detect suspected cases. “This allows for timely isolation and epidemiological investigation,” the department said in a statement.

The move follows measures by the authorities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest city, who said they had tightened health controls at international border crossings.

Nipah not new to India

Nipah was first identified just over 25 years ago during an outbreak among pig farmers in Malaysia and Singapore, although scientists believe it has circulated in flying foxes, or fruit bats, for thousands of years.

The World Health Organization classifies Nipah as a priority pathogen because there are no licensed vaccines or treatments, its high fatality rate, and the fear that the virus could mutate and become more transmissible.

India regularly reports sporadic infections, particularly in the southern state of Kerala, regarded as one of the world’s highest-risk regions for Nipah. The virus has been linked to dozens of deaths there since it first emerged in the state in 2018. Bangladesh also reports cases regularly.

As of December 2025, there have been 750 confirmed Nipah infections globally, with 415 deaths, according to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which is funding a vaccine trial to help stop Nipah.

The West Bengal cases are the state’s first in nearly two decades, following five fatal infections in 2007, local media reported. REUTERS