Nipah Alert: Pune Lab Confirms Two Bengal Cases, Nurses Critical, Source Unknown

• National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, confirmed Nipah virus in two samples from West Bengal.
• Two nurses from a private hospital in Barasat are critically ill, one in a coma, on ventilator support.
• Over 120 close contacts, including healthcare workers and family, are in home isolation across Barasat, Katwa, and Burdwan.
• A doctor from Burdwan in contact with a nurse developed a mild fever and is being shifted to Beliaghata ID Hospital.
• The exact source of infection is unknown; possibilities include human-to-human transmission or contaminated date palm sap.

Why It Matters: Nipah virus confirmed in two critical Bengal nurses; source unknown, over 120 contacts isolated.