Ebola scare in India as Ugandan woman shows symptoms in Bengaluru: What we know

The Ebola scare has reached India as a 28-year-old woman from Uganda has been isolated at a government hospital in Bengaluru after developing mild body ache days after arriving in the country. This has set off precautionary Ebola surveillance measures as health authorities await laboratory test results. The woman landed at Kempegowda International Airport on May 23 after travelling from Uganda through Ahmedabad. She has been moved to the State run Epidemic Diseases Hospital in Indiranagar after officials tracking passengers from Ebola affected regions detected signs of fatigue and later recorded mild symptoms. Her samples have been collected and sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune for testing. Results are expected within the next two days.

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What are the steps being taken in Bengaluru?

Bengaluru District Surgeon and Medical Superintendent of the Epidemic Diseases Hospital, Anil Kumar, said the woman had not shown symptoms during airport screening but continued to remain under watch because of her travel history. "She developed a mild body ache after which samples were collected and sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune,” said the official.

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According to health department quoted by HT, the woman had checked into a hotel after arriving in Bengaluru. She was shifted to the hospital from there as a precautionary measure. Ritvik Ranjanam Pandey, principal secretary of Karnataka’s health department, said, “At this stage, there is no clarity on whether the symptoms are linked to Ebola. Since she appeared fatigued during screening, airport health officials decided to send her samples for examination,” he said. As the suspected case surfaced, Karnataka’s health department has identified dedicated quarantine, isolation and treatment facilities in Bengaluru and Mangaluru. In Bengaluru, authorities have designated the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases as the isolation facility, while the Epidemic Diseases Hospital will handle quarantine and treatment operations. In Mangaluru, Srinivas Port Hospital under the New Mangalore Port Authority has been assigned as the quarantine centre, with Wenlock District Hospital serving as the isolation and treatment facility.

What Centre said?

Meanwhile, the Centre said that no Ebola case in India yet. The Union ministry of health and family welfare said that measures are being taken and states and union territories have been asked to strengthen surveillance, hospital preparedness and rapid response systems. This comes after the WHO classified the Ebola outbreaks in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo as a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” India has also advised citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Ebola Disease-affected countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and South Sudan.