Nipah virus: Singapore closely monitoring global situation, prepared to adjust public health measures
No Nipah virus cases associated with the situations in India or Bangladesh have so far been detected in Singapore.
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SINGAPORE: Singapore is closely monitoring the Nipah virus situation in India and globally, and will adjust public health measures as needed based on the evolving risk, Senior Minister of State for Manpower and Health Koh Poh Koon said in parliament on Thursday (Feb 12).
On the virus, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has issued clinical guidance to all medical practitioners.
MOH has conducted an educational webinar for primary care doctors, while the Electronic Health Declaration Card for all incoming travellers has been adjusted, Dr Koh said.
Additionally, the Ministry of Manpower has disseminated announcements by the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) on precautionary health measures to migrant workers, domestic workers, employers, dormitory operators and employment agencies, Dr Koh said.
This is on top of earlier measures, such as requiring daily temperature checks for new migrant workers who have travelled to India's West Bengal state, and temperature screenings at airports for flights from affected areas.
Dr Koh was responding to a parliamentary question filed by MP Joan Pereira (PAP-Tanjong Pagar), on the ministry’s response to the Nipah virus, in view of its high case rate fatality.
The virus, which spreads from animals to humans, has an estimated fatality rate of 40 per cent to 75 per cent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
It can cause illnesses ranging from respiratory distress to brain inflammation, and has no vaccine.
India confirmed two cases in West Bengal since December, but said on Jan 27 that the situation was contained. According to WHO, a woman also died in northern Bangladesh in January after contracting the virus.
CDA said last week no Nipah virus cases associated with the situations in Bangladesh or India had been detected in Singapore,
LOCAL RESEARCH
MP Gerald Giam (WP-Aljunied) asked a parliamentary question about the progress of local research into Nipah virus diagnostic kits and vaccines.
In response, Dr Koh said the main local research programme on the virus and other pathogens with pandemic potential is the Programme for Research in Epidemic Preparedness and Response (PREPARE).
PREPARE is funded under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) programme, which can involve collaborations between public sector institutions and private sector firms.
Under the programme, the National University of Singapore (NUS), Duke-NUS and A*STAR are conducting six research projects on Nipah virus covering diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines, Dr Koh said.
All are in progress and do not involve the use of live Nipah virus, which requires a biosafety level (BSL) 4 laboratory, Dr Koh said.
Singapore currently does not have a BSL 4 laboratory for the purposes of research, but he noted that the Ministry of Defence is upgrading the capabilities of DSO National Laboratories to BSL 4. The S$90 million (US$71 million) upgrade was first announced in 2021.
In his supplementary question, Mr Giam asked whether the Health Sciences Authority would consider an interim authorisation for a vaccine in the case of a local outbreak.
The University of Oxford has developed a Nipah virus vaccine candidate, which recently entered phase two trials in Bangladesh, he noted.
In response, Dr Koh said that the Nipah virus is localised and not widespread.
He added that the Nipah virus in South Asia has occurred from time to time, and is generally a zoonotic infection.
“But we are raising our caution to watch this carefully, and it's not the same posture that we should adopt as COVID, which has become a generalised pandemic in the episode we've just been through,” he said.
“So there's probably no urgency at all for now for us to look at procuring vaccine targets ahead of time in anticipation of a widespread global pandemic.”
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