Ebola: 28-year-old from Saharanpur tests negative
13 Aug 2014 5:30 AM IST
In a precautionary measure to curb the spread of Ebola disease, the cabinet secretary on Tuesday held review meeting with secretaries and senior officers of all concerned ministries such as health, civil aviation, external affairs, and home affairs.
Giving details about the meeting, a health ministry note said, ‘the cabinet secretary was briefed on the scale of the Ebola Virus Disease and steps taken by the different ministries towards prevention and surveillance of the suspected cases.
The secretary has also asked the officials to create a portal to ask about the disease, effective information sharing between different ministries on passenger coming in from the affected countries. All this will enable more effective surveillance and tracking of suspected cases.’ The note further informed that a 28-year-old man hailing from Saharanpur, who flew from Nigeria, was admitted to RML Hospital for observation on Sunday morning, has tested negative. While confirming the negative test, HK Kar, medical superintendent of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, said, ‘the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test result was negative. Rather, it was found that he had malaria and he would be discharged on Wednesday.’
The call centre at the ministry of health and family welfare has received about 40 calls in the past 24 hours. The queries from public related to signs and symptoms of the disease and risk of travel. ‘The health ministry will train the immigration officers at the identified airports on how to deal with the passengers travelling from the affected countries.
It was also decided in the meeting to sensitise the cabin crew of different airlines towards the nature of the EVD to enable them to understand the issue and deal more effectively with the passengers’, the note added.
Giving details about the meeting, a health ministry note said, ‘the cabinet secretary was briefed on the scale of the Ebola Virus Disease and steps taken by the different ministries towards prevention and surveillance of the suspected cases.
The secretary has also asked the officials to create a portal to ask about the disease, effective information sharing between different ministries on passenger coming in from the affected countries. All this will enable more effective surveillance and tracking of suspected cases.’ The note further informed that a 28-year-old man hailing from Saharanpur, who flew from Nigeria, was admitted to RML Hospital for observation on Sunday morning, has tested negative. While confirming the negative test, HK Kar, medical superintendent of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, said, ‘the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test result was negative. Rather, it was found that he had malaria and he would be discharged on Wednesday.’
The call centre at the ministry of health and family welfare has received about 40 calls in the past 24 hours. The queries from public related to signs and symptoms of the disease and risk of travel. ‘The health ministry will train the immigration officers at the identified airports on how to deal with the passengers travelling from the affected countries.
It was also decided in the meeting to sensitise the cabin crew of different airlines towards the nature of the EVD to enable them to understand the issue and deal more effectively with the passengers’, the note added.
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