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The deadly Nipah virus has led some airports to start COVID-style screenings
Nipah is a zoonotic virus that originates in bats but can spread from person to person, and can be fatal 70% of the time
Officials maintain there haven’t been any more cases beyond the original few that were reported, despite reports that say otherwise
Following the outbreak of the Nipah virus in India, airports in Asia are now screening travelers for signs of the fatal virus, similar to how passengers were checked for the COVID-19 virus.
In Thailand, health officials have announced “passenger screening points for arrivals from affected areas,” the government posted in a message on X. They also that shared airports will begin “enhanced cleaning of shared areas to ensure the safety of both passengers and staff.”
Thailand’s Tourism Ministry announced on Jan. 27 that they had “not detected any cases of Nipah virus, affirming that strict screening and preventive measures are in place at all international airports to safeguard public health and reassure tourists.”
Screening includes “temperature checks, health and travel history assessments, and epidemiological monitoring,” the statement said. Anyone suspected of having Nipah is “immediately isolated and referred to the public health system in accordance with International Health Regulations.”
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According to the Thai government, the screenings are taking place at Phuket International Airport, and Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports. The screenings began following confirmation that two nurses from a private hospital in Kolkata, in the Indian state of West Bengal, had the Nipah virus.
“The most likely source of infection is a patient who had been admitted to the same hospital previously,” a senior health official involved in West Bengal’s Nipah surveillance efforts told The Telegraph. “That individual is being treated as the suspected index case, and investigations are ongoing.”
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People who don’t get the virus from another person are usually sickened by coming into direct contact with an infected animal or eating contaminated fruit. Symptoms can take as long as 14 days to show up, at which point the virus causes fever, headache, cough, sore throat, and difficulty breathing. It can progress to encephalitis (swelling of the brain), at which point the sickened person can develop seizures and is at risk of coma.
Nipah is a zoonotic virus that originates in fruit bats, but as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control points out, can spread to other animals, and from person to person, where it’s fatal 40%-70% of the time.
Reports of more cases of Nipah are incorrect, according to India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which said “a total of 196 contacts linked to the confirmed cases have been identified, traced, monitored, and tested. All traced contacts have been found asymptomatic and have tested negative for Nipah Virus Disease.”
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