A screening desk has been put in place at Madurai airport for screening passengers arriving from Dubai and Colombo as airports across the country have been alerted over Ebola outbreak in West Africa spreading to Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria.
The Centre and Airport Health Organisation have directed airports to take steps to prevent spread of the disease from international travellers.
Following the alert, the Airport Authority of India officials, in coordination with officials of the State Health Department, set up a health desk near the immigration counter inside the new terminal.
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“Though there are no direct flights from the worst-affected countries to Madurai, there are flights from these places to the Gulf from where passengers might enter the city. A large number of Nigerians also study in Madurai,” said an airport official on Monday.
Passengers with symptoms of Ebola could approach the doctors available at the airport, the official said.
Ebola disease, also known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, has a mortality rate of up to 90 per cent, and has no specific treatment.
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It spreads by direct contact of body fluids.
The virus has an incubation period of two to 25 days, after which patients develop symptoms like nausea, vomiting, fever, body ache, sore throat and fatigue. Sometimes, it leads to multi-organ failure, according to R. Balajinathan, Professor of Medicine, Government Rajaji Hospital.
Checks at airports becomes crucial as the virus is suspected to have spread to Nigeria after a passenger from Liberia died of the disease soon after arrival at Lagos airport.
There was no screening at the airport last week though around 150 passengers arrived in the city from the Gulf every day, said a source at the airport.
It may be recalled that a screening desk was set up at the old terminal following the outbreak of SARS virus in 2003.
District Collector L. Subramanian told The Hindu that the district administration would convene a meeting with the Health Department officials.
“If need be, we will extend our cooperation to the airport authorities after holding a discussion,” he added.
Meanwhile, the GRH administration, as part of its efforts to tackle possible Ebola outbreak, had set up a 10-bedded isolation ward, said hospital authorities.