Early Tuesday, a statement was released by the Press Information Bureau of the Indian government saying that, at the moment, there are no confirmed, or suspected, cases of Ebola in the country. The statement contains information regarding the health facility that has been set up at the Delhi airport saying, "The quarantine cum isolation health facility at Delhi airport has not admitted any suspect case for observation or testing today." It also says, however, that there are 353 passengers that are now being observed for symptoms of the Ebola virus disease. Most of these people, they say, are from the states of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Kerala.
Authorities say that Integrated Disease Surveillance Programs or IDSP have been set up at all of the international airports and are helping to keep track of passengers that enter or leave the country. The Airport Health Organization is coordinating the efforts, and is sending all the necessary details to the IDSP. The Indian AHO said that enrollment into the program is ongoing so that passengers can be tracked in their respective cities through units that have been set up by the IDSP.
As the news of the disease disperses throughout the country, more and more people are expressing concern over the possibility of a widespread infection. The deployment of the IDSP has brought about a never before seen awareness for the disease, causing over 600 calls to be made to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare by citizens who wanted to have more information about the Ebola virus and its signs and symptoms. People have also called wanting to know what the risks are for acquiring the infection, as well as travel information.
In another statement, airport authorities have revealed that a strategy is already underway to make the screening process for passengers much easier. Moving forward, passengers that are traveling from any of the Ebola-stricken West African countries will be classified according to their risk of infection.
