The Ebola virus threat seems to have come home for Delhiites.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on July 20 alerted the Union Health Ministry about a traveller who landed in Delhi as a confirmed case of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).
The person was subsequently tracked and has now tested negative for the virus. But with the virus having an incubation period of two to 21 days, health officials are not taking any chances and have put the traveller and two others who have been in close contact with him under surveillance for this highly contagious disease.
“This person was traced to Dwarka in South-West Delhi. After investigation, he was found to be healthy. He has been provided with all necessary guidelines for self-monitoring and asked to report to the authorities in case of manifestation of symptoms,” said a senior health official on Friday.
The delay in tracking the person occurred because he had given his Gurgaon address. District Surveillance Officer (Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme), Gurgaon, V.K. Thapar said: “The phone numbers mentioned in his travel documents were not reachable and we couldn’t find him in Gurgaon either. So we asked Delhi to inform us if he tests positive.”
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan added that a mechanism has been worked out in consultation with the Ministries of Civil Aviation and Home Affairs for collection of information on travellers to India through the affected countries.
“Flight passengers will be made to mandatorily declare through health cards their movement in the recent past and their addresses in India. The database thus developed will help in the tracking of people who later develop symptoms. Surveillance is being strengthened at airports and ports,” the Minister added.
Besides this, in-flight announcements will ask passengers to report symptoms at airports, where designated rooms have been set up.
The symptoms of Ebola include vomiting, diarrhoea, high fever, bleeding and damage to the central nervous system.
There is no vaccine or cure for one of the deadliest diseases known to humans that spreads through bodily fluids. Humans contract the disease from infected animals, including chimpanzees and fruit bats.
The world’s worst Ebola outbreak has killed 932 people in West Africa after the first case was reported in March in Guinea.
