The Centre for Health Protection on Wednesday said the risk of the potentially deadly Nipah virus entering Hong Kong is low.

This came as a fresh outbreak of the virus hit Kolkata in India, where five cases have been recorded since mid-January and around 100 close contacts were quarantined.

Speaking to RTHK, head of the CHP’s communicable disease branch Albert Au said Hong Kong has not recorded any suspected cases so far.

“The outbreak in India is mainly confined to a hospital in Kolkata. There are no signs of cross-border infections or any major community outbreaks there,” he said.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and request medical workers to report suspected cases through our existing infectious disease surveillance and notification mechanism.”

Au said the SAR is stepping up its monitoring of the disease, including enhanced temperature checks and medical assessments for inbound travellers from India at the airport starting Tuesday.

If any suspected cases are picked up at the airport, they would be sent to public hospitals for further examinations, he said.

According to the CHP, fruit bats are the natural host for the virus, which was first identified during outbreaks among pig farmers in Malaysia and Singapore from 1998 to 1999.

Au said people could be infected with the virus through contact with sick animals, consumption of contaminated food and human-to-human transmission.

He called on people to avoid contacting animals or drinking raw date palm sap at virus-hit areas while maintaining good personal hygiene.

Infectious diseases expert Ivan Hung from the University of Hong Kong also urged Hong Kong people not to travel to places with Nipah virus infections.

Hung said the symptoms of the disease at an early stage are similar to flu, including a fever, headache, vomiting and muscle pain.

But the disease can lead to serious complications and has a high fatality rate of 40 to 75 percent, he warned.

Separately, Au said the CHP did not agree with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s decision to end its hepatitis B vaccination recommendation for all newborn babies.

The current vaccination programme in Hong Kong caters to the local situation, he said, adding that citizens should not blindly follow the practice of other countries and have unnecessary doubts about the efficacy of vaccinations in the SAR.