India, Jan. 13 -- Two suspected cases of Nipah virus have been detected at Barasat in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, officials said on Monday. The condition of the two, a male nurse and a female nurse working in the same private hospital in Barasat, was said to be critical, and they have been kept on ventilation, officials said. They had gone home in East Midnapore and East Burdwan in December, and fell ill.

"Two suspected cases of Nipah virus have been reported. They both worked in the same hospital and are now admitted there. We have started contact tracing," said Nandini Chakravorty, chief secretary of West Bengal.

A second official said their samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for confirm...