Leading health experts stated on Friday that the stepped-up airport screenings for Nipah virus across Asia this week are more about public reassurance than actual science.
Countries including Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Pakistan implemented temperature screenings after India confirmed two cases of the deadly virus in West Bengal. Nipah virus is a zoonotic infection primarily spread through products contaminated by infected bats, such as fruit. While it has a fatality rate of up to 75%, it does not spread easily between humans.
While national health ministries defended the measures as necessary precautions, the World Health Organization (WHO) noted on Friday that it does not currently recommend airport screening, describing the international risk as low.
“Based on what we currently know, there is a very low likelihood that this outbreak will cause a large international epidemic,” said Dr. Md Zakiul Hassan, a Nipah specialist from icddr,b in Bangladesh.
Piero Olliaro, a professor at the University of Oxford, added that screening for such a rare disease is likely ineffective. He suggested that countries often perform these checks to “flex their muscles” and show citizens they are taking protective action.
Experts pointed out that during the Covid-19 pandemic, temperature checks missed the majority of cases. Furthermore, fever is a common symptom for many illnesses, and follow-up testing for a rare disease like Nipah is extremely time-consuming.
Experts argue that global efforts would be better spent understanding the virus and developing new vaccines and treatments.
“Preparedness means we have the tools now, and we are not trying to develop them when the horse has left the stable,” Olliaro concluded.
About The Author
