Hongkongers should avoid travelling to West Bengal, which is battling an outbreak of the deadly Nipah virus, an infectious diseases expert has warned, with an Indian community leader in the city predicting a short-term impact on family and business trips.
The community leader also sought to reassure the public, dismissing fears that the outbreak in India would significantly affect Hong Kong in the long term.
“There is a large and thriving Bengali community in Hong Kong. Those who are planning trips might postpone them until they see what the situation is,” Vishal Melwani, vice-president of the India Association Hong Kong, told the Post on Tuesday.
India is battling a fresh outbreak of the Nipah virus, with authorities there providing a new update on Tuesday that two confirmed cases were recorded in West Bengal since December while 196 contacts had tested negative.
Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said on Monday that preliminary information indicated a hospital in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, had recorded five confirmed cases since mid-January involving healthcare workers, while about 100 close contacts had been quarantined.
The Nipah virus is one of 53 notifiable infectious diseases under Hong Kong’s Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance.
The zoonotic virus can be transmitted to humans from animals such as bats or pigs, or through contaminated food. It can also be spread directly from person to person.
It has a fatality rate of 40 to 75 per cent, with no treatment or vaccine available for people or animals.
The outbreak is expected to affect the travel plans of members of Hong Kong’s Indian community. The city is home to about 42,600 Indians, according to the 2021 population census.
While there are no official statistics on the number of Bengalis in the city, the Hong Kong Bengali Association said about 100 families were members of the group.
Melwani said the outbreak could have a short-term impact on residents who had family or business ties in West Bengal.
But he said he did not expect the outbreak to have a long-term impact as it was confined to the state in eastern India so far, adding there were no direct flights between Kolkata and Hong Kong.
Hong Kong authorities’ decision to conduct health screenings of travellers from the affected region would also help prevent transmission, he said.
“I am completely confident both that the local health authorities will do what is necessary to protect public health and that the strong ties between Hong Kong and India will be unaffected,” Melwani said.
“In a post-Covid world, we all understand that sometimes medical screening of travellers is necessary as a precaution.”
The outbreak of the virus in India has sparked concern in some parts of Asia, with some regions, including Hong Kong, tightening screening measures at their borders.
Ivan Hung Fan-ngai, chair professor of infectious diseases at the University of Hong Kong, said the risk of the virus spreading to Hong Kong was low given its limited transmissibility as well as the absence of a direct air link between the city and Kolkata.
While he called for caution, he also noted that Hong Kong authorities’ screening of inbound travellers from India would effectively prevent the virus from spreading to the city.
“It is very important to avoid travelling to high-risk areas such as West Bengal and Kolkata,” he said.
“The symptoms of Nipah virus infection are very similar to those of the flu ... It is important to check travellers’ medical history, whether they have been to any high-risk places.
“We’ve seen cases in West Bengal so far, but could infections also emerge outside West Bengal soon? Therefore, to be on the safe side, patients with these symptoms should be taken to the hospital for further examination.”
Hung also urged residents to avoid contact with wild animals such as pigs and bats, and to refrain from drinking raw date palm sap.
Dr Albert Au Ka-wing, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, said on Wednesday that although the city had not yet recorded any suspected or confirmed cases, whether imported or local, authorities had stepped up surveillance at the airport as a precautionary measure.
He added that starting from Tuesday, health officials had intensified temperature checks and medical assessments for all passengers arriving on flights from India.
“Our preliminary risk assessment shows that the risk of Nipah virus being imported into Hong Kong is low,” Au told a radio programme.
“The current transmission appears largely confined to a single hospital in Kolkata, with no data currently suggesting cross-border spread or a major outbreak within the local community.”
He also said that if travellers from the affected area displayed symptoms, they would be immediately referred to a public hospital for isolation and testing.
The Public Health Laboratory Services Branch is already equipped to conduct specific diagnostic tests for the virus, with results available within about 12 hours.
Despite the low immediate risk, Au urged residents travelling to affected regions to remain highly vigilant, noting that the virus was a notifiable infectious disease under Hong Kong law.
“If we discover an imported case, we will exercise our authority under the ordinance to implement protective measures, including the mandatory isolation of the patient and the initiation of rigorous contact tracing for all close associates,” Au said.
He added that the city’s comprehensive surveillance and intelligence systems were already on high alert, ensuring that healthcare workers could quickly report and respond to any suspected cases.
Multiple outbreaks of Nipah virus infections in humans have been recorded in Bangladesh and India over the past two decades, typically between December and April.
Transmission primarily occurs through the consumption of raw date palm sap contaminated by fruit bats.
Patients infected with the virus can be asymptomatic, while early symptoms include flu-like symptoms, such as fever, headache, vomiting, sore throat and muscle aches. Other symptoms also include dizziness, drowsiness and decreased consciousness.
Severe cases can lead to complications such as pneumonia, seizures, encephalitis, coma or even death.
Symptoms usually start to emerge about four to 14 days after exposure, though onset may occur up to 45 days later.
-- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
