Kathmandu, Jan. 30 -- Amid growing concern over the current Nipah virus outbreak in West Bengal, India, and rising fear and testing demands, Nepal's Epidemiology and Disease Control Division has issued an interim testing guideline for suspected cases.

As per the new protocol, suspected Nipah cases are people whose health is rapidly deteriorating or who have died, and who show symptoms such as fever with breathing difficulties or coma. The protocol states that such persons must also have an epidemiological link, such as drinking raw date palm sap, contact with infected animals, particularly fruit bats, and have a history of travelling in the Nipah endemic areas.

Probable Nipah cases include deaths, severe acute respiratory infections, or...