Health officials overseas have set up screening measures to stop people carrying the Nipah virus into their countries. Photo / 123rf
Health officials overseas have set up screening measures to stop people carrying the Nipah virus into their countries. Photo / 123rf
Kiwis travelling through parts of Asia may find themselves facing Covid-style screening measures at some major airports, after cases of a deadly virus were confirmed in India.
At least two people have been identified as contracting the Nipah virus in West Bengal, eastern India. The virus, first detected in Malaysiain 1998, is carried by fruit bats and other animals, including pigs.
With no approved vaccine to fight it and with a fatality rate of between 40% to 75%, it is considered highly dangerous and deadly.
Indian health authorities say the two confirmed Nipah cases – understood to be healthcare workers – had been contained. Almost 200 people had been identified as close contacts and all had been traced and tested negative to the virus.
Despite that, several Asian countries have started screening passengers arriving from India at some international airports – including at Bangkok and Phuket, in Thailand, and Changi Airport in Singapore.
Screening measures are also being carried out at Kathmandu airport in Nepal and at land border points with India, according to the BBC.
The Ministry of Health and Health New Zealand say they are monitoring the situation.
“At this stage, the World Health Organisation considers the risk of international disease spread to be low,” they said in a joint statement to the Herald.
“The Ministry of Health is monitoring the spread of Nipah virus overseas and provides updates to the National Public Health Service to inform its screening and detection work.”
Asked about any potential changes at New Zealand’s borders, namely our international airports, they said the National Public Health Service does not screen specifically for the Nipah virus at our border.
“There are systems in place to ensure any traveller who arrives in New Zealand unwell is checked and managed appropriately to the situation.”
Epidemiologist Michael Baker said there was little potential for the virus to reach New Zealand.
“In New Zealand, we really shouldn’t be at all concerned about this infection because it’s got animal reservoirs,” the University of Otago professor said.
Human infection happened after contact with fruit bats, he said, and they are not native to New Zealand.
“Fruit bats – they can feed on fruit, so they can contaminate the environment. That’s also the result in human infections.
“They’re direct infections. We call that a spillover infection from an animal reservoir ... infection from animals.”
Indian flying foxes have been known to carry the Nipah virus. Photo / 123RF
Put to him that this was how Covid-19 started, Baker acknowledged that like Nipah, Covid is also a zoonotic virus – an infectious disease passed from animals to humans.
However, there was “little potential” that this would cause a pandemic, Baker said.
“There are hundreds of zoonotic infections in the world. Most pandemics start as spillover infections from animal reservoirs – that’s the main source of pandemics.
“But most of the time, humans are what we call a dead-end host. So we get infected and, if it’s a new zoonotic infection, there’s often a high fatality risk – but very few of them progress to easy human-to-human transmission.
“But I think the world is quite sensitised to these infections. It’s why we need to get on top of any new viral infection or any infection from animals that we haven’t seen before.
“Very few infections have great potential for transmission between people – and this one doesn’t at the moment.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has not released any specific travel advice on its SafeTravel website. MFAT has been approached for comment.
However, Baker said anyone travelling to India, particularly to West Bengal, where the positive cases were found, should take extra precautions.
