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Health officials in India have launched an urgent containment operation after confirming a new outbreak of the deadly Nipah virus (NiV) in West Bengal. Two Nipah positive cases were reported on January 11, 2026. As of January 26, 2026, five cases have been admitted in the region near Kolkata, primarily involving healthcare workers at a private hospital in Barasat, West Bengal. The cluster reportedly began with an index patient who passed away before a diagnosis could be confirmed, subsequently infecting the medical staff. In response, authorities have placed approximately 100 close contacts under strict quarantine to prevent further transmission. A 25 year old nurse who recovered from Nipah virus infection died of cardiac arrest at a private hospital in West Bengal on February 12, 2026, marking the state’s first fatality from the infection in recent years. The woman had been in a prolonged coma which severely affected her immunity, resulting in multiple complications and later developing a lung infection. While she had recently tested negative for the virus, her condition had remained critical. The other patient, a male nurse, has since recovered. For neighbouring countries, WHO assesses the public health risk posed by NiV at the regional level to be low. There have been no reports of cross border transmission and the current outbreak remains geographically limited. Nevertheless, the risk of disease occurrence persists due to the shared ecological corridor of fruit bats and the history of human cases previously reported in the region(1). With a fatality rate as high as 70% and no existing vaccine, the Nipah virus is currently designated by The World Health Organization as a priority pathogen with significant epidemic potential, The Nipah virus (NiV) infection is a highly lethal zoonotic disease that jumps from animals – specifically fruit bats and pigs – to humans through direct contact or contaminated food. Beyond animal spillover, the virus can also spread directly between people, making hospital settings and close-knit communities particularly vulnerable to localized outbreaks(2). Despite the severity of the disease, there are currently no specialized medications or vaccines available for humans or animals, leaving patients dependent on intensive supportive care. It is a priority disease for research due to its capacity for person-to- person transmission and the risk it poses to global health security.