Delhi Airport Alert: The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) issued an advisory on Thursday for passengers who have travelled from countries reporting Ebola Disease. The airport has listed Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and South Sudan as high risk countries. Ebola spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids of an infected person (blood, vomit, saliva, semen) or contaminated surfaces. It is not airborne like COVID-19.
Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) ha urged immediate action if passengers face any of the following symptoms:
-Fever
-Vomiting
-Weakness or Fatigue
-Headache
-Diarrhoea
-Unexplained Bleeding
-Muscle Pain
-Sore Throat
Passengers who had direct contact with blood or body fluids of a person suspected/confirmed to have Ebola Disease are required to immediately report to the airport health desk before immigration clearance.
Any traveller developing the given symptoms within 21 days of arrival should immediately seek medical care and inform healthcare authorities about their travel history. The authorities have also urged cooperation with health screening and public health measures in the interest of passenger safety.
Ebola Outbreak In Congo
Eighty people have died in a new Ebola outbreak in Congo's eastern Ituri province, the country's health ministry said late on Friday. Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba Mulamba said in a statement that samples tested on Thursday had confirmed eight cases of the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus in the health zones of Rwampara, Mongwalu and Bunia. The viral outbreak came at a time when Hantavirus deaths were reported in the first week of this month.
So far, there have been 246 suspected cases of the virus, the ministry said. The suspected index case was a nurse who died at the Evangelical Medical Centre in Bunia after showing symptoms that included fever, bleeding, vomiting and severe weakness.
Is There Any Vaccine For Bundibugyo Virus?
The outbreak is "extraordinary" as there are no approved Bundibugyo virus-specific therapeutics or vaccines, unlike for Ebola-Zaire strains, it said. All but one of the country's previous outbreaks were caused by the Zaire strain. The DRC-Uganda outbreak poses a public health risk to other countries, with some cases of an international spread already documented, the agency said, advising countries to activate their national disaster and emergency-management mechanisms and undertake cross-border screening and screening at main internal roads.
Bundibugyo virus-disease contacts or cases should not travel internationally, unless as part of a medical evacuation, the WHO said. The agency advised immediately isolating confirmed cases and monitoring contacts daily, with restricted national travel and no international travel until 21 days after exposure.