'No need to panic over Ebola scare, says Nadda

Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda said on Wednesday that there was no need to panic over reports of an Indian national travelling from Liberia with Ebola.

The Indian national was quarantined yesterday at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. He has already undergone successful treatment, he added.

"As the health ministry yesterday informed that one reported case of Ebola has come before us. This is a treated case and we had detected it at the airport only. There is no need to panic as the situation is under control," said Nadda.

"According to our arrangements, all the people coming from West Africa are checked. We had found the blood samples to be negative in that test. But still we put him under observation. We also check body fluids after tests. On November 17 -18 it was confirmed by the NCDC that the test has been found to be positive," he added.

Nadda said the passenger is not showing any symptoms of illness, and there is a period till which the patient is kept under observation.

"With the help of medicines, then it becomes negative from positive. The patient has been kept under observation, following the international standards. Till the time all tests are negative, he will be kept under observation only," he said.

Lauding the hard work of his ministry, he said the case was detected due to the cautious efforts of the health ministry.

The 26-year-old was carrying a medical certificate from the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare which started that he had been declared free of any clinical signs and symptoms of the disease. However, he has been isolated at the Airport Health Organization's Quarantine Centre as a matter of precaution.

The Health Minister earlier on Tuesday chaired an inter-ministerial meeting to review the situation where he gave direction to the Health Ministry officials to constitute teams of experts, who will visit the states and report on the preparedness of their designated hospitals.

He has also asked them to work together towards capacity building of the states.