New Delhi, Jan. 12 -- The Centre has deployed a multi-disciplinary team to West Bengal following the identification of two suspected Nipah virus cases at AIIMS Kalyani, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The National Joint Outbreak Response Team includes experts from the National Institute of Virology (NIV), the National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE), and the wildlife division under the environment, forest and climate change ministry to support containment efforts and public health response measures.

Given the virus's high mortality rate and zoonotic nature, enhanced laboratory testing for rapid confirmation, intensive surveillance through contact tracing, and specialized infection prevention and control protocols have ...