Ebola scare : Govt beefs up steps, says no need to panic
Source: The Sangai Express / Press Trust of India
New Delhi/Jammu, November 19 2014:
Government today decided to tighten measures to detect Ebola cases and formed a three- member committee to plug gaps at airports, a day after it quarantined an Ebola survivor for carrying traces of the deadly virus.
As concerns mounted, Health Minister JP Nadda said situation is under "complete control" and there is no need to panic.
Nadda, who on Tuesday chaired an inter-ministerial meeting to review the situaiton, said his ministry will constitute teams of experts who will visit states and review preparedness of their hospitals designated for treating Ebola patients.
In Jammu, Nadda told reporters that arrangements similar to the one at Delhi airport, which helped detect the virus in a 26-year-old Indian national returning from Liberia, have been put in place at 24 airports.
It has, however, emerged that guidelines for screening incoming passengers at airports for the deadly virus, including checking their 21-day travel history, are not implemented properly and lacunae have been detected in this, according to a review conducted by the Health Ministry.
Of the 14 airports identified, isolation facilities at 12 airports were not at par with the Health Ministry guidelines and thus India at present is using the quarantine facilities only at Delhi and Mumbai.
The Ministry has initiated the process of upgrading the isolation facilities at the rest.
"A three member team will be constituted to inspect all airports to identify the gaps.
It will include officials from the Health, Civil Aviation and Immigration departments," an official statement said today, adding that the committee will submit its report within a week.
"There is no need to panic.
The situation is under complete control," Nadda said.
The Health Minister asked officials to ensure that quarantine facilities set up at airports adhere to all guidelines and protocols.
The detection of the virus in the man, who arrived here on November 10 from Liberia, was a result of "extra caution" shown by the government, he said.
Nadda said the passenger is not showing any Ebola symptoms.
He has been kept under observation in line with international standards.
Till the time all tests are negative, he will be kept under observation, he said.
The man was treated for Ebola in Liberia and carried a certificate from authorities there that he was cured of it.
The minister said, "All arrivals from outside the country are being checked.
The tour and medical history of passengers are being screened at airports" .
"Measures have been put in place at 24 airports with isolation centres being set up.
The joint efforts are being made by union ministries of health and civil aviation.
Assistance of Army doctors are also being sought", he said.
Officials from several ministries concerned besides those from AIIMS and other central hospitals, WHO and National Disaster Management Authority attended the review meeting.
Pushing for expediting the ministry's action plan on the need to have India compliant on the core capacities required under international health regulations, he said there was a need to strengthen 10 laboratories by the end of the month.
India has screened thousands of passengers travelling from Ebola-hit West Africa in recent weeks.
There are nearly 45,000 Indian nationals living in West Africa.
Ebola has taken the lives of at least 5,177 people, mostly in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, according to the latest WHO figures.
The first outbreak of Ebola virus was reported in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks, one in Nzara (Sudan) and the other in Congo.
The latter occurred in a village near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name.
Ebola symptoms include fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache and sore throat followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, symptoms of impaired kidney and liver function.
Fatality can be up to 90 percent, according to WHO.
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