Nipah virus in the headlines again: What Sabah needs to know

ON a typical morning in Sabah, families walk through tamu markets buying fresh products, cooked food, and household goods. Some stalls sell meat, some sell vegetables, others sell drinks or small livestock.

Children sip beverages while eating freshly cut fruits or other readily available snacks. These are ordinary, familiar scenes, but they also remind us how closely daily life, food, and the natural environment are connected in our state.

In January 2026, health authorities in India confirmed a cluster of Nipah virus infections in West Bengal, with cases linked to healthcare settings and large scale contact tracing underway. Several Asian countries have responded with enhanced airport screening and surveillance for travellers from affected areas. The outbreak remains contained, but it is a reminder that Nipah continues to surface in Southeast Asia. Yet this virus was first identified here in Malaysia, a history marked by loss, learning, and the hard work of preparedness.

Nipah virus was discovered in 1998 during an outbreak of severe illness among pig farmers. Patients developed high fever, respiratory distress, confusion, and signs of brain inflammation. More than 100 people died. Nearly one million pigs were culled to stop transmission. Families lost income, communities faced fear, and the country learned painful lessons about how diseases can emerge where animals, people, and the environment meet. Since 1999, Malaysia has not reported another human case, a success built on strengthened surveillance and better coordination.

Nipah is not spread through casual social contact in the way respiratory viruses like Influenza or COVID-19 are. Risk is mainly linked to exposure to infected animals, contaminated food, or very close contact with infected patients or sick animals, particularly in healthcare settings. Clear information prevents fear from spreading faster than facts. Still, the virus never vanished from the region. Bangladesh and India has recorded outbreaks almost every year since 2001, often with fatality rates above 70%. Each outbreak carries the same warning. Nipah can move quietly, and once severe illness develops, options are limited.

Nipah virus is a zoonotic virus, it circulates in animals and can affect to humans by contact with infected animals. Its natural hosts are fruit bats, also known as flying foxes. These bats do not appear sick, but they carry the virus in saliva, urine, and blood. Humans can become infected through contact with infected animals, food contaminated by bats, or through close contact with an infected person. The incubation period typically ranges from about 5 to 14 days, and can up to 45days.

In some outbreaks, hospitals have become places where transmission occurs between patients and caregivers. Illness often begins with fever, headache, vomiting, and fatigue. It can progress to respiratory problems, seizures, confusion, and encephalitis, which can be fatal. There is no specific antiviral treatment and no widely available vaccine. Care focuses on supporting the patient and preventing spread.

According to Dr. Lim Kai Joo @ Carol, Public Health Medicine Specialist at Communicable Diseases Control Branch, JKN Sabah “Here in Sabah, we live very close to our natural environment, so the One Health approach is not just theory, it is daily practise. Our best protection against Nipah is safe food handling, self-monitor if travel to endemic country, and seek for healthcare attention if sick or have contact with sick animals. Awareness and preventive actions at community level can stop a serious outbreak.

For Sabah, this issue is not theoretical. Fruit bats are part of our natural environment, especially near forests, villages, and smallholdings. Fruit trees, backyard farms, pig farms with open-sided pens near forests, and small-scale livestock keeping often exist close to homes, particularly in rural districts where communities live near forest edges. In Sabah, where farms, fruit trees, and forest fringes often sit within the same walking distance, prevention is really about managing that daily closeness safely.

Wildlife and daily life overlap as part of Sabah’s landscape and livelihood. Most interactions between people and wildlife are harmless, but certain conditions can allow viruses to spill over, which is why awareness about safe food handling and proper separation of animals matters here more than in highly urban settings.

Preventing Nipah is not one dramatic act. It is a chain of protection that starts long before anyone falls ill. Surveillance is the foundation. Farmers who notice unusual illness in animals, clinicians who recognize severe encephalitis, laboratory teams able to test quickly, and health authorities ready to act all form part of the early warning system. Fast reporting can prevent wider spread.

The Ministry of Health Malaysia has reinforced this preparedness. According to recent statements, health screenings at international entry points have been intensified, particularly for travelers from countries considered at risk. Continuous surveillance in the field has been strengthened, and national laboratory capacity enhanced to ensure early detection.

Infection prevention and control practices in health facilities have also been reinforced. Cooperation across agencies, including veterinary and wildlife authorities, continues under the One Health approach. Authorities have stated that no Nipah virus has been detected in domestic or wild animals locally so far, but vigilance remains high due to cases reported overseas.

Hospitals routinely practice protocols for managing severe infectious diseases, including patient isolation procedures and use of protective equipment, so that suspected cases can be handled safely without exposing other patients or staff. Preparedness is supported not only by practice but also by law.

Malaysia’s Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) provide the legal framework for managing infectious disease threats. Under this act, infectious diseases can be designated as notifiable, meaning suspected cases must be reported quickly to health authorities. This enables rapid investigation, contact tracing, isolation when needed, and coordinated action across sectors.

The One Health approach sits at the heart of this strategy. Human health, animal health, and environmental health are linked. When fruit bats feed in orchards near livestock pens, when wild and domestic animals share water sources, or when food hygiene is poor, opportunities for spillover increase.

Global disease control also depends on cooperation beyond national borders. The World Health Organization plays a role in outbreak alerts, data sharing, and technical coordination. When major contributors reduce support, global response capacity can become thinner, even if national systems remain strong. That makes domestic preparedness and regional collaboration even more important.

The key messages for the public are simple. Keep food safe, avoid contact with sick animals, and seek early medical care for severe fever with headache or confusion. Practice regular hand hygiene, wash fruit thoroughly, and avoid consuming food or fruits that may have been exposed to fruit bats.

Finally, preparedness is not about panic. It is about steady awareness, sustained investment in public health capacity, and communities’ engagement to enhance health promotion. Nipah virus may remain silent for years, but silence does not mean absence. Early warning does not start in laboratories alone. It begins with farmers, families, clinicians, and communities recognizing unusual illnesses and reporting it quickly. When these come together, even a dangerous virus can be kept at the edge rather than at the center of our lives.

Melvin Ebin Bondi is a PhD candidate in Public Health at Universiti Malaysia Sabah. He writes a weekly public health column for The Borneo Post.