The doctor assessed the risks of importing the Nipah virus to Russia

Theoretically, the Indian Nipah virus can be imported to Russia, but there are no conditions in the country for its spread. This is reported by the general practitioner of the Polyclinic.<url> Alexander Novikov said on Monday, January 26.

At the same time, the doctor noted that the Nipah virus has a fairly high mortality rate.

"During the past local outbreaks in Southeast Asia, mortality reached 40-75%, but these were local outbreaks, not massive ones, as with COVID-19," he explained in a conversation with Lenta.Ru .

Novikov clarified that the disease often begins with symptoms similar to the usual flu: the temperature rises sharply, severe headache and muscle pain appear, and a feeling of weakness. The therapist warned that the danger arises when the virus affects the nervous system — some patients develop confusion, seizures, and in severe cases, infection can lead to coma and acute respiratory failure.

"Fruit bats are the source of the virus in nature. Transmission is also possible through direct contact with sick pets or, in close contact, from person to person," Novikov concluded.

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Earlier that day, INVITRO's infectious disease specialist, Candidate of Medical Sciences Andrey Pozdnyakov, said that another outbreak of the Nipah virus, recorded near the Indian city of Calcutta, is local in nature, and its import to Russia is unlikely.

In turn, Alexey Agranovsky, professor of the Department of Virology at the Faculty of Biology of Lomonosov Moscow State University, told RT that there are no bats in the territory of the Russian Federation that can carry the Nipah virus. He explained that there are simply no conditions in the country for such reservoirs to accumulate the virus and there is a real danger of spread. 360.ru .

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