Temperature screening for those arriving in S'pore from Nipah virus affected areas

Singapore's Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) is closely monitoring the Nipah virus infection in West Bengal, India, and has stepped up vigilance, the agency said in a statement on Jan. 28.

This includes disseminating health advisories to travellers at points of entry to Singapore, as well as setting up temperature screening at the airport for those arriving on flights from affected areas.

No sustained human-to-human transmission

In its statement, CDA noted that the outbreak in West Bengal is reportedly between humans, with two cases so far.

This is the seventh Nipah virus outbreak in India since 2001.

In the current outbreak, the transmission was reported to be within hospitals and remains localised to West Bengal, with no sustained community transmission reported at the moment.

The statement explained that infection is mainly caused by exposure to bats and consumption of date palm sap or fruits contaminated by bats.

Ongoing surveillance programmes monitoring Singapore's bat population since 2011 have not detected Nipah virus infections.

In a Facebook post, Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung said there is "much less to worry" if the outbreak is only between animals to humans, or humans to humans in a very close setting after contacting human fluids.

There is currently no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission, Ong noted.

Singapore stepped up vigilance

Singapore has stepped up vigilance in several ways, CDA said.

It has alerted hospitals and emergency departments to be vigilant for Nipah virus infections in patients with compatible symptoms and recent travel history to the affected area.

At points of entry to Singapore, health advisories will be disseminated to travellers and temperature screening will be set up at the airport for flights arriving from affected areas.

CDA also said the Ministry of Manpower is stepping up surveillance of newly arrived migrant workers from South Asia, and engaging primary care providers to increase vigilance.

As the Nipah virus is a notifiable disease under the Infectious Disease Act, medical practitioners and laboratories are required to notify CDA immediately of all confirmed or suspected cases, the agency said.

"We are also reaching out to our counterparts in South Asia, to better understand the situation," CDA said, adding that work is ongoing to establish a global platform for countries to report genome sequencing of detected cases.

CDA said it stands ready to introduce additional public health measures should new information emerge to indicate an increased public health risk to Singapore.

"Travellers who develop symptoms during or after travel should seek prompt medical attention and inform their doctors of their recent travel and any potential exposure to raw date palm sap, bats or unwell persons," CDA advised.

CDA also provided a list of precautionary measures that travellers can take while overseas:

• Avoid food and drinks potentially contaminated by bats, such as raw date palm sap, and fruit found on the ground
• Avoid direct contact with unwell persons
• Avoid direct contact with animals, especially bats and pigs, and bat roosting areas
• Consume fully cooked food and fruits that can be washed and peeled
• Maintain good personal hygiene.

"Singaporeans can rest assured that we are always on alert and will act quickly to protect our population," the health minister said in his Facebook post.

Top image via Changi Airport / Facebook