Airports launch COVID-style health checks after outbreak of deadly virus

Asian countries are on high alert after cases of the deadly Nipah virus were detected in West Bengal, India.

The zoonotic virus can spread between animals and people, mostly fruit bats and pigs, with mild to severe symptoms from fevers to brain infection and death, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Five people have contracted the Nipah virus, the Thai government confirmed. 

India’s National Center for Disease Control also confirmed the outbreak, writing it is “not major” and is limited to two “districts in Kerala (Kozhikode) [and] Malappuram.”

Countries in the region have been put on alert, with health officials implementing tracking and prevention rules similar to those implemented during the COVID pandemic.

Thailand’s Department of Disease Control (TDDC) issued a press release Friday to emphasize that the measures are