What is the Nipah Virus and Should We Be Concerned?
In January 2026, India reported two cases of Nipah virus, a deadly zoonotic disease with mortality rates between 40 and 75 percent.
So far, there is no immediate risk to public health, but authorities have launched a public health response and several neighboring countries have implemented additional health checks at airports.
So, what do we know about the virus? And should we be worried?
Learn more: Why do viruses like COVID-19 and flu mutate quickly and what does this mean for vaccines?
What is Nipah virus?
Nipah is a zoonotic disease. This means that it usually spreads from animals to humans, but there have been incidents of human-to-human transmission and cases of people contracting the disease from contaminated food.
The first known outbreak occurred in 1998 in the village of Kampung Sungai Nipah, when hundreds of pig farmers in Malaysia fell ill after coming into contact with infected pigs. There have been around 300 cases and over a hundred people have died. Millions of pigs were slaughtered in an attempt to contain the epidemic.
The disease has since been associated with bats, particularly fruit bats of the family Pteropodidaeknown as flying foxes, which are Nipah’s primary reservoir hosts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This means they naturally harbor the pathogen and can carry the disease without getting sick. These bats are found in various parts of Asia and Australia, including India, China and Indonesia.
What are the signs of Nipah virus?
Early symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain, vomiting and sore throat. As the disease progresses, patients may experience dizziness, drowsiness, and neurological problems, such as confusion and seizures, triggered by encephalitis (or swelling of the brain), which can lead to coma and death. Patients may also develop respiratory symptoms, such as shortness of breath and pneumonia.
These symptoms usually occur four to fourteen days after exposure to the virus, although some patients may appear asymptomatic.
What are the risks of Nipah virus?
Nipah is a deadly disease with an extremely high mortality rate, estimated between 40 and 75 percent. Patients who develop neurological symptoms are particularly at risk.
What treatment options are available?
Unfortunately, no treatment or vaccine currently exists, although products are in the pipeline, including potential vaccine candidates. For now, early intensive supportive care is crucial and can increase the chances of survival. This may include rest, hydration and treatment of individual symptoms.
What do we know about this particular Nipah virus outbreak?
This outbreak was limited to two cases in the Indian state of West Bengal, affecting a male and a female healthcare worker. The patients first developed symptoms in December and were admitted to hospital earlier this year. According to the latest WHO update, published on January 30, 2026, one is now showing signs of improvement, while the other continues to receive critical care.
Since then, authorities have tested more than 190 contacts, all of whom came back negative. In the meantime, clinicians have been alerted, surveillance has been strengthened and established health protocols have been put into practice. Other countries, such as Thailand and Vietnam, have increased the number of health checks at airports.
What are the risks of an epidemic?
Since the virus was identified in the late 1990s, cases have been reported in several other South and Southeast Asian countries, including Bangladesh, India, Singapore and the Philippines. According to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), India reports occasional outbreaks of Nipah and Bangladesh experiences cases most years. But so far these tend to be relatively limited.
Piero Olliaro, professor of poverty-related infectious diseases at the University of Oxford, UK, explained in a statement on Science Media Centre: “the virus does not transmit easily between people, and sustained community-wide spread has not been observed, resulting in outbreaks that are generally small and localized.”
“Based on what we currently know, there is a very low probability that this outbreak will cause a large international outbreak,” Olliaro added.
“That said, Nipah remains a serious global health problem and is listed by the World Health Organization as a priority pathogen for research due to its wide natural host range (fruit bats), high mortality in humans, and lack of approved vaccines or treatments.”
This article does not offer medical advice and should be used for informational purposes only.
Learn more: Viruses in plastic pollution could fuel antibiotic resistance
Article sources
Our Discovermagazine.com editors use peer-reviewed research and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review the articles for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. See the sources used below for this article:
