West Bengal Reports Suspected Cases of the Nipah Virus

Health authorities in West Bengal, India, recently issued a high alert after detecting two suspected cases of the Nipah virus (NiV) at the Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory of the Indian Council of Medical Research at AIIMS Kalyani.

The cases, identified on January 11, 2026, involve two nurses who work at a private hospital in Barasat, in the North 24 Parganas district, near the Bangladesh border.

Both patients are in critical condition and are receiving ventilator support while in isolation, with preliminary tests indicating a possible Nipah infection.

According to local media reports on January 13, 2026, the Nipah virus was first identified during the 1998-1999 Malaysian outbreak and has since caused sporadic, high-fatality outbreaks in South Asia. 

Previous confirmed NiV cases in India were reported from Kerala state, specifically in the districts of Malappuram and Palakkad, along India's southwest coast.

According to the WHO's Disease Outbreak News in August 2025, four confirmed NiV cases, including two deaths, were reported in 2025.

As of 2026, there is no licensed Nipah vaccine available for humans, but research has accelerated due to the virus's priority status from the World Health Organization.

Key vaccine candidates include subunit vaccines targeting the fusion protein that have shown promise in Phase I trials for safety and immune response.

The University of Oxford launched the world's first Phase II trial in late 2025.

Other research platforms are exploring mRNA and peptide-based approaches.

According to research, vaccine experts estimate that a licensed vaccine could be available within five years, says Don Hackett, publisher of Vax-Before-Travel.com.