VisMederi is reinforcing its strategic role as a reference laboratory for global epidemic and pandemic preparedness, with a specific focus over the past year on the development, standardization, and validation of serological testing for Nipah virus (NiV). The timing matters. India has reported a new Nipah signal in West Bengal, confirming two infections since December 2025. Authorities say they traced, monitored, and tested 196 contacts, all of whom were negative and asymptomatic, while surveillance and containment measures continue. In response, several countries in the region have tightened travel-health precautions, including enhanced screening and health checks for travelers arriving from the affected area.
Nipah remains a high-concern pathogen because severe outcomes can occur and because the toolbox is still limited. The WHO notes that infection can range from asymptomatic illness to acute respiratory disease and fatal encephalitis, with a reported case fatality rate typically between 40% and 75%, depending on outbreak context and local response capacity. With no licensed vaccine or specific treatment available, public health response leans heavily on early detection, isolation, and infection-control measures, while R&D efforts depend on reliable immunology readouts.
This is precisely where VisMederi’s work fits. As Alessandro Manenti, Chief Development Officer explains: “VisMederi plays a strategic role as a reference laboratory for global epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response. In this context, our work over the last year on the development, standardization, and validation of serological tests for Nipah virus supports the need for reliable assays to evaluate new vaccines. VisMederi’s Nipah portfolio is designed to give vaccine and countermeasure developers a coherent set of tools rather than a single datapoint. In a fast-moving scenario, the differentiator is not just generating data quickly but generating data that remains comparable across studies, sites, and decision gates”.
VisMederi Portfolio on Nipah Virus
- Neutralization assay (Pseudovirs assay) BSL2 – GOLD STANDARD ASSAY
- Binding/Ligand Assays (ELISA)
- Avidity assay
- Cell Mediated Immunity (ELISpot, ICS)
- Luminex based assay
