Macao’s Health Bureau says it has prepared quarantine facilities as well as a health emergency plan in the unlikely event of a Nipah virus outbreak in the SAR. However, officials have advised residents – scarred by memories of the Covid-19 pandemic – not to panic over potentially deadly virus, as both recently confirmed cases appear to have been successfully confined to the Indian state of West Bengal.
At a seminar yesterday, the head of the Health Bureau, Alvis Lok Iek Long, conceded that even though the distance between India and Macao is far, the convenience of international air transport and the frequency of people-to-people exchanges meant that an undetected case could result in disease spreading across borders.
However, he said the SAR’s medical institutions and frontline staff would take steps to ensure the early detection and control of Nipah virus. Speaking to roughly 100 representatives from Macao’s medical sector, the Health Bureau chief called on them to strengthen their vigilance and capacity to identify suspected infections, and to pay attention to whether or not a patient had a travel history in India.
Preventive measures already being undertaken include intensifying assessment and medical screenings for those who have a travel history in West Bengal or who are exhibiting symptoms. The authorities have enhanced their disease detection capabilities.
The Macao Union Hospital has stepped up measures as well, with its deputy director Lei Wai Seng telling local media yesterday that it had already organised for infectious disease experts to provide training to staff members and was keeping in close contact with the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to an Indian government statement on Tuesday, only two cases of Nipah virus had been confirmed in West Bengal since December. None of the 196 individuals who were in contact with the infected were found to have caught the virus.
[See more: Macao on alert amid Nipah virus outbreak in India]
The Indian authorities believe that they have been able to contain the cases in a “timely” manner, with the current situation “under constant monitoring.”
Despite the absence of local infections, parts of Asia have already doubled down on precautionary measures. Places such as Hong Kong, Nepal, Taiwan and Thailand have strengthened screening and monitoring for international visitors across their airports and border crossings.
China has done the same, although the country’s National Disease Control and Prevention Administration was reported by China Daily on Tuesday as saying that the likelihood of a public outbreak was “low.” The department explained that the disease was currently restricted to an area that was not bordering China and that the virus’ “ability to survive in the general environment is weak.”
Information from the World Health Organisation indicates that Nipah virus can be spread from animal-to-human, human-to-human, and through contaminated food.
Those infected with the disease can end up with various symptoms such as headaches, fever and vomiting, with coma also a possibility in more severe cases. The fatality rate is a worrying 40 to 75 percent.
Presently, there are no cures available for Nipah virus, although Chinese scientists from the Wuhan Institute of Virology recently found through animal testing that the Covid-19 oral drug VV116 could be effective in combating the disease.
