WHO sees low risk of Nipah virus spreading beyond India

WHO assesses low risk of Nipah virus spread from India, with no recommended travel or trade restrictions following reported cases.

The ‌risk ​of the deadly Nipah virus spreading from India ​is low, ⁠the World Health Organisation ​said ⁠on Friday (January 30, 2026), adding that it ‌does ‌not recommend any travel ‍or trade restrictions ‍after India reported two ⁠cases of the ​virus infection.

Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, ​Thailand and Vietnam are among the Asian locations that tightened airport screening checks this week to guard against such a spread after India confirmed infections.

“The WHO considers the risk of further spread of infection from these two cases to be low,” the agency told Reuters in an email on Friday (January 30, 2026), adding that India had the capacity ​to contain such outbreaks.

“There is no evidence yet of increased ⁠human-to-human transmission,” it said, adding that it has coordinated with Indian health authorities.

But it did not rule out further exposure to the virus, which circulates in ​the bat population in ⁠parts of India and neighbouring Bangladesh.

Carried by fruit bats and animals such as pigs, the virus can cause fever and brain inflammation. It has a fatality rate ranging from 40% to 75%, ‌with no cure, though vaccines in development are still being ‌tested.