Islamabad: Pakistan has placed its borders, airports and health system on high alert after confirmation of a deadly Nipah virus outbreak in India’s West Bengal, ordering strict screening of all incoming travellers, enhanced surveillance at every point of entry and emergency preparedness across provinces, even as authorities say no human case has yet been detected inside the country.
In two separate advisories issued on Wednesday, the Border Health Services Pakistan and the National Institute of Health warned that the highly fatal zoonotic virus, which can spread from animals to humans and through close human contact, poses a real cross border risk due to regional travel and the presence of virus carrying fruit bats in South Asia.
The Border Health Services Pakistan, working under the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination, directed immediate enforcement of strict and enhanced health surveillance at all points of entry including international airports, seaports and land border crossings without any exception.
The order mandates one hundred percent screening of all arriving and transit passengers, crew members, drivers and support staff, with no individual allowed entry without health clearance.
According to the advisory, all travellers must undergo thermal screening and clinical assessment, while travel and transit history for the preceding twenty one days will be verified regardless of nationality. Special vigilance has been ordered for travellers arriving from or transiting through Nipah affected or high risk regions, and any false declaration or concealment of travel history is to be documented and reported for action.
Screening staff have been instructed to watch closely for early symptoms of Nipah virus infection including fever, headache, respiratory illness and neurological signs such as confusion, drowsiness or altered consciousness. Any suspected case is to be immediately isolated at the point of entry, restricted from onward movement and managed strictly under infection prevention and control protocols before referral to a designated isolation facility or tertiary care hospital.
A separate alert issued by the Centers for Disease Control at the National Institute of Health Islamabad confirmed that at least five Nipah cases have been reported in West Bengal, including infections among healthcare workers in Kolkata. The document notes that Nipah virus carries a case fatality rate ranging from forty to seventy five percent and can cause severe respiratory disease and fatal encephalitis.
While stressing that Pakistan has not reported a confirmed human case so far, the NIH warned that the regional situation requires heightened readiness. It directed all provincial health departments to identify at least one tertiary care hospital or infectious diseases unit for safe triage, isolation and clinical management of suspected Nipah cases, ensure availability of trained staff and personal protective equipment including N95 masks, and activate rapid response teams for case investigation and contact tracing.
The NIH advisory explains that Nipah virus is transmitted to humans through consumption of food contaminated by fruit bats, direct contact with infected animals such as bats or pigs, and through close unprotected contact with infected individuals, particularly in healthcare settings. Initial symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain and vomiting, which can rapidly progress to encephalitis, seizures and coma within twenty four to forty eight hours.
The incubation period is typically four to fourteen days but can extend up to forty five days, increasing the risk of silent transmission across borders. Laboratory confirmation relies on real time RT PCR testing of throat or nasal swabs, blood, cerebrospinal fluid or urine, with all samples required to be transported under strict biosafety and cold chain conditions to the National Institute of Health for confirmation.
Health authorities have acknowledged that there is currently no licensed vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for Nipah virus, and management remains largely supportive, often requiring intensive care and mechanical ventilation in severe cases. The effectiveness of ribavirin remains inconclusive and it is not routinely recommended.
The advisories state that Pakistan’s public health emergency operations centres have been placed on watch mode, daily reporting from all points of entry has been made mandatory, and any lapse in surveillance or infection control will be treated as serious negligence.
Although the World Health Organization considers the risk of wider international spread from the current Indian cases to be low at present, federal health officials say early preparedness is critical to avoid delayed detection, particularly given Pakistan’s past experience with emerging infections and cross border disease transmission.
Both advisories have been circulated widely to provincial health departments, border authorities and healthcare facilities, with instructions to keep the federal authorities informed of all preventive and preparedness measures taken in their respective jurisdictions.