Data Report

January 29, 2026
Two Nipah virus infections confirmed in West Bengal, WHO urges One Health surveillance

SUMMARY:
Two laboratory-confirmed Nipah virus infections in nurses in West Bengal prompted targeted public health action and regional travel screenings

India confirmed 2 laboratory-confirmed cases of Nipah virus infection in West Bengal in January 2026. Both patients were 25-year-old nurses employed at the same private hospital in Barasat and developed neurologic complications after symptom onset in late December 2025

LINK:
https://www.dvm360.com/view/two-nipah-virus-infections-confirmed-in-west-bengal-who-urges-one-health-surveillance
&
LINK:
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events/nipah-virus-disease-cases-reported-west-bengal-india-very-low-risk-europeans

COMMENT: I can't help but cringe  when they say it is "low risk" It may be low risk but they should say the stakes are super high. I guess it is  low risk for a high stakes disease! ...Nipah virus (NiV) can spread from human-to-human so I guess they are saying they quarantined everybody. I guess we will have to take their word on that .. of course  it got two nurses to begin with which was also probably considered a low risk probability is something to think about. It spooks me.

From their words...

"Media and regional reports indicate that the January 2026 situation has triggered airport and border screening in some neighboring countries as a precautionary measure. Veterinarians with animals or clients who travel regionally should be aware of evolving advisories."

... note they say "some  neighboring countries" and not all neighboring counties.

...also they say "Veterinarians with animals or clients who travel regionally should be aware of evolving advisories"

.. note yeah they "should be aware" but are they aware!?
Merely being being aware of something doesn't mean crap insofar as precautions go such as masking & quarantining animals especially if people and animals are asymptomatic. Besides what does "evolving advisories" mean and do veterinarians know what that means? My trust is zip. If it was such low risk they wouldn't have got it so who are they to advise be they an evolving advisory or not!?

To me the airports and their behavior indicate how seriously scared they are ...Nipah Virus seems to be of public concern there and is "high risk" there which is why they are masking and stopping people at airports. They take it seriously at the airport but nowhere else?

Let's put it this way:

"in the initial weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China (late December 2019 to mid-January 2020), Chinese authorities and state media downplayed the risks to the public, stating that the virus was "preventable and controllable" and that there was "no clear evidence" of human-to-human transmission
No Clear Evidence" of Transmission: Until January 20, 2020, Chinese officials maintained that the virus was not easily transmitted between people, suggesting the risk to the general public was low.

"Low Risk" Statement: On January 15, 2020, Li Qun, the head of the China CDC’s emergency center, told state television that the risk of sustained human-to-human transmission was "low".

Silencing Whistleblowers: In early January 2020, police in Wuhan reprimanded eight doctors, including Dr. Li Wenliang, for "spreading rumors" after they warned colleagues about a potential SARS-like virus.

Delayed Public Warning: While internal reports acknowledged the severity as early as mid-January, public messaging did not reflect this, with, for example, a local medical team stating on January 6 that there was "absolutely no chance" the virus would spread widely.

Shift in Tone: The official stance changed on January 20, 2020, when President
Xi Jinping ordered the outbreak to be taken seriously, and Dr. Zhong Nanshan, a prominent epidemiologist, confirmed on national TV that human-to-human transmission was occurring.


..I'm not saying Nipah virus is going to spread like wildfire but I wouldn't call it low risk because it is laboratory strain leaked if I am not mistaken in reading the report. If it happened in a clinical setting then why not in a real life scenario? Perhaps being a layperson on the matter, I am wrong to compare the nature of Nipah to Covid but there is certainly reason to be alarmed because of what happened with covid and how initially people said it was low risk.. for what it is worth it makes me second guess and question the "low risk" statements. For me, I'm thinking: Once bitten twice shy when it come to bat diseases spreading human to human possibly from labs.

The problem to me is they don't state any reasons why the Nipah virus risks would be low to the public other than they are stopping people at airports for now. Sounds like the risks are high enough they are stopping people at airports..in other words the risk is high to the public otherwise they wouldn't be stopping people at airports. My reasoning is it is of public concern and is "high risk" which is why they are masking and stopping people at airports. It's just a weird argument: Is it considered "low risk" because people at the airport are taking precautions and treating it as high risk? It doesn't look "low risk" at the airport.

[PHOTO ATTACHED BELOW]
"A handout photo released by Suvarnabhumi Airport shows Thai health officials wearing protective masks monitoring passengers from international flights arriving at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Samut Prakan province, Thailand, Jan. 25, 2026. Thailand's international disease control checkpoints at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang International Airports began implementing health screening measures for flights arriving from West Bengal, India, to monitor and prevent Nipah virus infection.
The Suvarnabhumi Airport Office via EPA via Shutterstock"

Bangladesh reports off-season Nipah virus transmission and geographic expansion, with 100% fatality in recent cases

SUMMARY:
Nipah spreads beyond season, first-ever case detected in Bhola: IEDCR. The Business Standard. 07 Jan 2026
Nipah virus detected in 35 districts, IEDCR warns of changing infection pattern. Daily Sun Report. 07 Jan 2026
Nipah no longer seasonal, warns IEDCR. Bangla News 24. 07 Jan 2026

LINK:
https://beaconbio.org/en/report/?reportid=602713d4-7d49-40e3-afe5-de9f7a69d6c6&eventid=09f87614-a263-41e7-9c23-3cf9c77fd52d

&

Nipah no longer seasonal, warns IEDCR
Staff Correspondent
07 January, 2026

SUMMARY:
“Nipah is no longer confined to winter or date palm sap. It is becoming a year-round and multi-route public health threat,”

LINK:
https://en.banglanews24.com/health/news/bd/189973.details

Now Masked Man is going  to show you what's going on.. As I already looked up the following to be true:
I looked that up figured out the difference between the Existing Strains: There are already two recognized strains of the virus: the Malaysian (NiV-M) and the Bangladesh (NiV-B) strains. The Bangladesh strain, which is more recent, already exhibits more frequent human-to-human transmission compared to the original Malaysian strain, highlighting the impact of viral evolution.

the Bangladesh strain "causes severe respiratory symptoms in patients, increasing the likelihood of virus transmission through coughing and sneezing".
    "Person-to-Person Spread: Human-to-human transmission is a major pathway for NiV-B, particularly in hospital settings Nipah virus can also spread between people ...It has been reported in health-care settings and among family and caregivers of sick people through close contact. The Bangladesh strain, which is more recent, already exhibits more frequent human-to-human transmission.."

NiV-B Nipah Bangladesh strain transmits directly from fruit bats to humans and from person-to-person via respiratory droplets and contaminated surfaces.

Got all that?

Now check this out I don't think the The Australian Centre for Disease Control even knows what strain they are dealing with or knows anything for that matter Check it out:

The Australian Centre for Disease Control doesn't know what I just told you about the this  Bangladesh strain and The Australian Centre for Disease Control thinks we are dealing with the the Malaysian (NiV-M) strain... In fact The Australian Center of disease control doesn't even say what strain it is...

The Australian Centre for Disease Control says: it is not transmissible through airborne droplets (Masked Man saysThe Australian Center for Disease Control doesn't know what strain of Nipah this even is).
LINK:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-30/nipah-virus-no-border-control-changes-australia/106286138

The Australian Centre for Disease Control said "it is uncommon for the virus to spread between people, as prolonged close contact with an infected person is required for transmission"(Masked Man says Australian Centre for Disease Control are referring to the Malaysian (NiV-M) strain not the Bangladesh strain)

The virus, which has never been detected in Australia, is a zoonotic disease like COVID-19 and Ebola, meaning it's spread from animals to humans, but there are major differences to COVID-19 in how it spreads, as it is not transmissible through airborne droplets. (Masked Man says while this is true that the Malaysian (NiV-M) is not transmissible through air droplets,  the  NiV-B Nipah Bangladesh strain on the other hand frequently transmits from person-to-person via respiratory droplets)
   

"It's very difficult to transmit between humans," (Masked Man disagrees)

  Mr Butler said.

"It requires very close personal contact between humans and the exchange effectively of bodily fluids." (Again Masked Man says while this is true for the Malaysian NiV-M its no true for the  NiV-B Nipah Bangladesh strain )

Nipah virus can also be transmitted through contaminated food, particularly date palm juice, a popular drink in Bengal made from the sap of date palm trees.
It is not a brand new virus. It's been around since 1999 … and we see annual outbreaks of Nipah virus in countries like Bangladesh every year," Dr Senanayake said. (Masked Man says sorry bud you need to read Data report because I got a report right here that says “Nipah is no longer confined to winter or date palm sap. It is becoming a year-round and multi-route public health threat,”)




Two nurses in India tested positive to Nipah virus earlier this month.

Nipah virus is mostly spread from bats to humans and person-to-person transmission is rare. (Again Masked man says while this is true for the Malaysian NiV-M its no true for the  NiV-B Nipah Bangladesh strain )

Nipah virus can cause flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, fatigue, vomiting and shortness of breath four days to three weeks after infection.(Masked Man disagrees thinks Australian center of disease people don't know what you are talking about )

In some cases, people develop pneumonia or encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), but most people who survive make a full recovery. (Masked Man is pretty sure Nipah is fatal at least half the time ya catch it no matter what strain)

Health Minister Mark Butler says there is no need to tighten Australia's border controls but authorities are closely monitoring the virus. (Masked Man says he doesn't even know or mention which strain of the virus we are dealing with.)

Does he even know there is more than one strain of the Nipah? Does he Ever think about looking this stuff up online lately like me?  Talk about a lack of education.. all ya got to do is look it up online... I'm sorry but get with the program! People's lives are at stake and Mr. Butler can't even indicate or signify which strain of Nipah virus he is referring to.. talk about lack of professionalism .. doesn't he even have the internet!?

Dear Health Minister Mark Butler try googling "
"Strains of Nipah virus" LINK:
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Strains+of+Nipah+virus
.. then study LINK:
https://www.datareport.info/index.php?action=post;msg=4961;topic=2384.0
and then get back to us. If you are going to be Health Minister and center of disease control  at least stay up to date with your viruses that's the least you can do. Do your job! Learn to read the latest on virus's ..At least read the latest archives about Nipah Viruses at Data Report Info ! Don't start talking about the Nipah Virus if you don't even know what strain it is. The name of the strain is right there in the articles written by your peers and the people studying the virus for ya. Don't be so hasty that you skip or omit what strain it is..duh!

What exactly do you do for a living!?.. how much do they actually pay the health administer? What's required of the job!? Kindergarten reading level!? Would you like to know more about the symptoms that differentiate the Bangladesh strain from the original Malaysian one? Is that something that would interest you? Or do we not have time or attention span for that?

Why on earth would I, the Masked Man, know more about Nipah strains than a health minister!? I don't see how anybody who is health minister or part of the CDC could fail to inform the public as to what strain of Nepah virus it is. The public isn't that stupid .. we have the technology like google to inform us. if I can figure out what strain it is anybody can. Brag about which strain of Nepal virus it is if you know so much!Act like you know something and use some terminology to impress us.. do you know how to pronounce Bangladesh Nipah Virus strain  correctly?
To the best of my knowledgen the Australian government, the
Minister for Health and Aged Care—currently Mark Butler—is governed by strict ethical standards that mandate impartiality and the avoidance of bias toward any specific organization, including nonprofits.Ministers are required to act in the public interest rather than the interest of any private entity or specific group... so talk about the Nepal virus ..educate us for the sake of the public teach us about the virus but don't tell us "not to panic " or how to behave" The minister job is to fully inform the public and then let the public decide how it feels or will react.