The Health Ministry has announced that there is no case of EVD in India
A traveller from Nigeria manifesting symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection at the IGI Airport on Saturday, August 9, 2014 was taken to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and tested for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). He tested negative.
The two passengers who reached Chennai on August 9, 2014 ie 27-year-old male who travelled from Guinea and a 40-year-old male who travelled from Liberia are in good health and they are under observation.
The high level of alertness at points of entry, coupled with the self-reporting by passengers, is leading to satisfactory results in the government's surveillance on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. On August 8, the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared a public health emergency of international concern after an abnormal rise in the incidence of the dreaded infection this year. Within hours the Ministry unravelled its advanced surveillance and tracking system. A 24-hour helpline was also opened.
Dr Harsh Vardhan, union health minister, ordered another review meeting today between officers of the Health, Home Affairs, External Affairs, Civil Aviation and National Disaster Management Authority, and representatives of World Health Organization. The meeting was chaired by the Health Secretary, Mr Lov Verma. This is the second inter-ministerial meeting in less than a week.
"There is no reason for getting worried over the odd case of a visitor to the country arriving in an indisposed condition. We have all the mechanisms in place for prompt treatment and subsequent monitoring," Dr Harsh Vardhan said.
The minister also directed that all technical updates on EVD, with reference to sample collection, storage and transportation, tracing and contact management, case management and notification control in hospital settings be loaded on the website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
He reiterated, "There is no case of EVD in India."
