K-P issues province-wide alert over possible Nipah virus threat

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) health department has sounded an alert to all government and private hospitals in the province regarding the possible spread of the Nipah virus, following cases reported in India, said health officials on Friday.

However, it was confirmed that no case of the virus has been found in Pakistan so far, but measures have been made mandatory nonetheless.

According to an official advisory sent to the district health officers, medical superintendents, and medical directors of MTI hospitals, the health department has declared the situation a possible public health emergency and has called for immediate preparedness in the province.

The director of public health has been made the provincial focal person for Nipah virus response and coordination.

Hospitals have been directed to set up isolation units, form district-level rapid response teams, enhance border health services, and enhance testing and diagnostic capacity at the designated reference laboratories.

The advisory has defined the Nipah virus as a zoonotic disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans and also through human-to-human contact.

Health authorities said that the virus has resulted in confirmed cases in the West Bengal region of India, besides causing infections among healthcare workers. The reported fatality rate ranges between 40 and 70 per cent, making the virus a serious public health concern.

Also read: Overall risk of Nipah outbreak in Pakistan remains low, NIH informs high-level meeting