Two nurses in West Bengal confirmed with Nipah; contact tracing expands

India’s National Institute of Virology in Pune has confirmed Nipah virus infection in samples from two nurses employed at a private hospital in Barasat, North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, health authorities said, underscoring the urgency of containment in a region with a history of deadly outbreaks. Both remain in very critical condition on ventilators in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

Initial tests at the virus research and diagnostic laboratory of AIIMS Kalyani flagged the samples as suspected positive and were forwarded to NIV Pune for reconfirmation on Jan. 13–14, 2026. The two infected health workers include a male nurse from Purba Medinipur district and a female nurse from Mongolkot in Purba Bardhaman. Officials have launched intensive contact tracing, isolation and testing measures across multiple districts.

Health authorities say the female nurse had symptoms as early as Dec. 25 but continued to work at the Barasat facility until Dec. 30. She returned home on Jan. 2 with a high fever, sought private medical attention that night, fainted, and was taken first to Katwa Subdivisional Hospital before being admitted to the Barasat hospital where she was employed. The male nurse was on night duty with her on Dec. 20 and 21, according to the clinical timeline compiled by investigators.

West Bengal officials have so far identified more than 120 close contacts, including family members, doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers and other hospital staff at Barasat, Katwa and facilities in Purba Bardhaman where the female nurse received care. At least 60 of those contacts are in Purba Bardhaman alone. About 100 people have been placed in home quarantine in the past two days while samples from contacts have been sent to AIIMS Kalyani for laboratory testing. Contact tracing is continuing to map potential exposures and to determine if additional quarantines or transfers to isolation wards are needed.

Several additional hospital staff who had contact with the female nurse were admitted to the Beleghata Infectious Diseases Hospital in Kolkata for observation, including a doctor linked to the Barasat facility and two staffers from Katwa. Those admissions have been logged as suspected cases pending laboratory confirmation.

The confirmation of two frontline workers has raised alarm among public health officials and communities in a state that recorded severe Nipah outbreaks in 2001 and 2007, and amid nationwide memory of deadly outbreaks in Kerala since 2018. Nipah virus can carry a high case-fatality rate in humans and has been documented to transmit between people in prior emergencies. Fruit bats are the usual reservoir, and authorities note a broader regional risk given cross-border movement and ecological links that could affect neighboring areas including parts of Nepal.

The cluster spotlights persistent gaps in health system protections for staff and patients. Public health specialists say early detection and laboratory networks functioned in this instance, with AIIMS Kalyani’s lab identifying suspects and NIV Pune confirming, but they also point to potential weaknesses in infection prevention, staffing pressures that leave sick workers on duty, and the need for robust paid sick leave, rapid isolation facilities and surge capacity in district hospitals.

State health officials have urged calm while expanding testing and quarantine measures, and are coordinating with specialized infectious disease centers in Kolkata to manage possible secondary cases. For communities and health workers already stretched by routine care demands, the response will test both technical preparedness and the social policies that determine whether exposed people can safely isolate without losing income or access to care.