The Union Health Ministry of India has declared, on Wednesday, that it is currently keeping tabs on 821 people who have travelled from the Ebola-hit West African countries, and have exhibited symptoms of the deadly virus on arrival.
These 821 people are being tracked by the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), which is designed to track each of these marked passengers for the duration of up to a month.
The information on these passengers has been provided to the IDSP by the respective airport authorities.
Most of these people have, however, been cleared of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), after their test results came back negative. However, the ministry, headed by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, is still tracking these people because it could take up to 20 days for a person (who has contracted the disease) to exhibit any symptoms.
"45 passengers (were) enrolled for follow up today through (their) State IDSP units," announced the Health Ministry, in a press release. "As on date, a cumulative number of 821 passengers are being tracked. Most of them are in the States of Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu."
Two passengers were admitted to the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital in New Delhi for further treatment, said the Ministry.
The two passengers, a physiotherapist and a doctor, had earlier tested negative for the Ebola virus. However, further tests have revealed that their symptoms might have been caused by malaria. It was found that these patients responded positively to malaria treatment, and now seem to be on their way back to recovery.
The Ministry also said that a total of 148 passengers, from the Ebola-affected countries, landed in the country in the last 24 hours.
92 of these people have landed in Delhi, 30 in Mumbai, 15 in Bangalore, eight in Kochi, and three in Chennai.
The IDSP, along with the respective state governments would be responsible for tracking these passengers. They would be followed up on a day-to-day basis, and a local authority would be appointed to ensure this, the Ministry added.
A delegation of 113 Afcons (111 Indians and two Nepalese) passengers returned from Liberia, on Tuesday. One of these passengers was isolated in the quarantine facility at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), but was later released after his test results came back negative for EVD.
