Harshvardhan dismisses fears about Ebola outbreak in India

Union Health Minister Harshvardhan today reassured that no cases of Ebola have been reported anywhere in India and added that there was no need to create any panic about it.

Ebola is a dreaded disease which has spread in four countries of West Africa, namely, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has now declared Ebola epidemic an international health emergency.

The Health Minister also spoke about the government's strategy to counter Ebola.

He said, "This is part of the strategy that anybody who is traveling from the Ebola affected countries and if he enters into India and if there is any history of coming in contact with anybody, then that is a normal precaution that we are taking. And I would call it abundant precaution that we are taking is to keep a track of that person till his last destination in the country."

"We have had meetings with all the relevant players in this, whether it's the aviation ministry or the defence forces or the external affairs ministry etc. The idea is to that you have to make sure to take all possible precautionary measures well in advance," he added further.

The Health Minister also said that the incubation period of the dreaded disease is 20-22 days and fortunately there is no air borne transmission in this disease that's why safety precautions can be taken to prevent the spread of the disease.