BEIJING, Jan 27 (APP): The Chinese National Disease Control and Prevention Administration on Tuesday said no cases of Nipah virus disease have been detected in China, noting that the current Nipah outbreak in India is mainly occurring in West Bengal, which does not share a land border with China.
The administration said that the Nipah virus is primarily transmitted through direct contact with infected animals, patients, or contaminated objects. The virus has weak environmental survivability, so the general public has a relatively low risk of infection through contact.
“Based on a comprehensive assessment, the impact of this Nipah virus outbreak in India on China is relatively small,” the administration said, while adding that there is still a certain risk of importation from abroad, and prevention measures need to be strengthened.
People traveling to countries with Nipah virus outbreaks should enhance disease prevention awareness, maintain good personal hygiene, pay attention to food safety, avoid contact with bats, livestock, and other animals, avoid contact with patients or secretions and excretions from infected animals, avoid eating fruits, vegetables, and products of unknown origin, and must not eat raw or drink untreated fresh foods and beverages, according to the administration.
After this outbreak of Nipah virus disease in India, China’s disease control authorities promptly took action, closely monitored overseas epidemic developments, and conducted timely risk assessments. The authorities further carried out training for medical and disease control professionals, strengthened surveillance and testing, and particularly enhanced response and handling capabilities in border areas to guard against potential risks, according to the administration.
The World Health Organization (WHO) exclusively told the Global Times on Tuesday in an email reply that it considers the risk of further spread of Nipah infection from the Indian cases to be low, adding that there is no evidence yet of increased human-to-human transmission.
However, the WHO official said the source of infection is not yet fully understood.
Chinese experts told the Global Times that the Nipah virus has a strong capacity for recurrent outbreaks and a high fatality rate. Previous cases have shown that human-to-human transmission of the Nipah virus primarily occurs through hospital-acquired infections, and infections resulting from a single spillover event may only be limited to small-scale isolated outbreaks.
Asian airports including China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Taiwan region, as well as Thailand and Nepal have tightened health surveillance and passenger screening following the recent Nipah virus outbreak.
APP/asg