Amid rising concerns over spread of deadly Ebola epidemic which has been declared an international health emergency by the World Health Organisation, health minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday claimed there is no reported case of the virus in the country and the government is taking all precautions.
In a precautionary measure to deal with the Ebola virus disease (EVD), union health ministry has opened a 24-hour ‘emergency operation centre’ which will be functional from Saturday. Its numbers are (011)-23061469, 3205 and 1302.
Denying any case of Ebola in the country, union health minister Harsh Vardhan said, ‘As of today, this moment, there is no Ebola case reported in India. There is no need to panic. We have put in operation the most advanced surveillance and tracking systems.’
In New Delhi, the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital has been identified for treatment and management of any case of EVD.
A health ministry official said, ‘The ministry was alerted by WHO about a traveller who landed in New Delhi on 20 July as a confirmed case of EVD. He had been traced to Dwarka in south-west Delhi. This person 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.’
A mechanism has been worked out in consultation with the ministry of civil aviation and ministry of home affairs for collection and collation of information on travellers to India through the affected countries. Flight passengers will be made to compulsorily declare through health cards their movement in the recent past and their addresses in India.
There are about 45,000 Indians in the Ebola affected countries.
While officially declaring the current outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) as the ‘most complex outbreak leading to public health emergency’, WHO on Friday called for a global health alert in all countries, including India.
In a precautionary measure to deal with the Ebola virus disease (EVD), union health ministry has opened a 24-hour ‘emergency operation centre’ which will be functional from Saturday. Its numbers are (011)-23061469, 3205 and 1302.
Denying any case of Ebola in the country, union health minister Harsh Vardhan said, ‘As of today, this moment, there is no Ebola case reported in India. There is no need to panic. We have put in operation the most advanced surveillance and tracking systems.’
In New Delhi, the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital has been identified for treatment and management of any case of EVD.
A health ministry official said, ‘The ministry was alerted by WHO about a traveller who landed in New Delhi on 20 July as a confirmed case of EVD. He had been traced to Dwarka in south-west Delhi. This person 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.’
A mechanism has been worked out in consultation with the ministry of civil aviation and ministry of home affairs for collection and collation of information on travellers to India through the affected countries. Flight passengers will be made to compulsorily declare through health cards their movement in the recent past and their addresses in India.
There are about 45,000 Indians in the Ebola affected countries.
While officially declaring the current outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) as the ‘most complex outbreak leading to public health emergency’, WHO on Friday called for a global health alert in all countries, including India.