Uttarakhand health department on alert over Ebola: travellers returning from affected African countries to be monitored for 21 days; no suspected case in Kashipur area so far

In view of the rising spread of the Ebola virus in African countries, the Uttarakhand government has put the health department on high alert across the state. According to Dainik Jagran, on the instructions of the medical department secretary, travellers returning from affected countries will be monitored for 21 days; the district surveillance unit will keep a daily health record of the travellers on the list it gets from a portal. Hospitals have been asked to keep isolation wards, dedicated ambulances, trained health workers, PPE kits and N-95 masks ready, and AIIMS Rishikesh has been made the isolation hospital for suspected and confirmed patients. According to departmental sources, members of more than 15 families from Kashipur and nearby areas live in South Africa, but none of them has come to India in the past month; there is no suspected case in the area so far. People who have returned from affected countries should tell a doctor their travel history at once if, within 21 days, they get symptoms such as high fever, weakness, body ache, vomiting and diarrhoea, or bleeding from the gums or nose. Kumaon Health Director Dr KK Agarwal has told all CMOs and CMSs to keep watch.