HYDERABAD: The recent Ebola scare in Chennai has pushed airport officials in Hyderabad to take rigourous preventive steps to ensure that the deadly disease does not enter the city.
Though there are no direct flights from West Africa,from where the disease has originated, airport officials are conducting a thorough screening of passengers arriving from African countries of Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinesa by international flights to Hyderabad via Bombay, Delhi and Chennai. “We have assigned eight doctors at the airport for the screening process. We carefully screen people coming from the four countries. Any suspected person will be immediately sent to Gandhi Medical College and Hospital in Secunderabad and will be kept in complete isolation,” said Mahesh Jupaka, Head of Airport Health Organisation, Shamshabad Airport Hyderabad and Senior Regional Director, Government of India, Hyderabad.

“At regular intervals, we announce symptoms of the disease to passengers. We select few people based on their travel history and blood samples of the suspect will be sent to National Institute of Virology, Pune,” he informed.
“However, there are hardly any people coming from the West African countries to Hyderabad. So far, there have been only 15 people coming from these countries,” informed Mahesh.

The symptoms of the disease include frequent headaches, fever, diarrhea, vomiting, weakness, joint muscle pain, lack of appetite.
“Usually, it takes 2 to 21 days to notice the infection. Till then, the suspects, if any, will be kept in complete isolation in Gandhi Hospital,” he said.
So far, no cases of Ebola have been reported in Hyderabad. The disease originated from animals like monkeys and chimpanzees and spread to humans. However, there is no such danger in India and the only way it can spread is from human to human,” he informed.
P Venkateshwar Rao, District Medical Health Officer said, “It is so bad that one has to maintain nearly two kilometers distance from the person having the disease and there is a danger of doctors acquiring it while treating the patients.”

He further added, “Government officials are constantly in touch with the officials from World Health Organisation.”