New Delhi, Feb 4 : A team of researchers in Japan has announced a clinical trial to confirm a vaccine's efficacy against the deadly Nipah virus in humans.

The vaccine candidate developed at the University of Tokyo is set to start clinical trials in Belgium in April, Nikkei Asia, a Japan-based English-language news magazine, reported.

The new vaccine offers a potential breakthrough against a disease whose fatality rate is estimated to be between 40 per cent and 75 per cent.

Currently, there is no licensed vaccine or specific treatment for Nipah virus infection.

The latest development comes even as India reported two confirmed cases of Nipah virus from West Bengal in January.

The new vaccine is reportedly being developed by inserting a portion of the Nipah virus's genetic information into the measles virus.

â??When the vaccine is introduced in humans, antigen proteins similar to those of the Nipah virus are produced. The immune system's response is seen strengthening the body's defenses, helping to prevent the onset of symptoms,â?? the report said.

â??The modified measles virus, widely used globally for measles vaccines,â?? it added.

The team has already established the vaccine's efficacy and safety in animal trials with hamsters.

To confirm the vaccine's safety in humans, the Phase 1 clinical trial will involve 60 subjects.

Separately, a team from Oxford University began Phase 2 clinical trials with a Nipah vaccine candidate in Bangladesh in December. About 300 people aged 18 to 55 are expected to participate.

Nipah virus infection has also been designated as a priority disease under the World Health Organization's (WHO) Research and Development Blueprint.

Nipah is a zoonotic disease that is primarily transmitted from bats to humans, either directly or through contaminated food.

It can also spread from animals such as pigs to humans, and in some cases between people through close and prolonged contact, particularly in health-care settings.

In humans, Nipah virus infection can range from asymptomatic illness to severe respiratory disease and fatal encephalitis. Globally, the case fatality rate is estimated to be between 40 per cent and 75 per cent, depending on early detection and quality of clinical care.

/IANS