Ebola outbreak: Airports issue advisories for travellers as WHO warns vaccine could take nine months

Amid the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, airports in India have issued advisories for passengers arriving from the high-risk African countries. 

Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) and Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) have issued a health advisory for passengers arriving from or transiting through countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and South Sudan. The passengers were asked to immediately report to airport health officials if they experience any symptoms associated with Ebola. 

The airport advisory comes a day after the Union health secretary chaired a high-level meeting with the states to assess the preparedness and response measures regarding the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). 

The airport listed those with fever, weakness or fatigue, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, and sore throat as symptoms to watch for. 

"Any traveller developing the above symptoms within 21 days of arrival should immediately seek medical care and inform healthcare authorities about their travel history," the advisory stated.  

With DRC and Uganda reporting over 600 suspected cases of Ebola and 120 deaths, the WHO has declared the recent outbreak a "global health concern". The majority of the spread is triggered by the Bundibugyo strain, which has no vaccine as of now. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that it could take up to nine months before a vaccine against this particular species of Ebola is ready. 

WHO advisor Dr Vasee Moorthy said that two possible "candidate vaccines" against the Bundibugyo strain are being developed. However, none of them has gone to clinical trials yet. 

While speaking to reporters in Geneva, Tedros maintained that the situation was "not a pandemic emergency". "WHO assesses the risk of epidemic as high at the national and regional levels and low at the global level," he said.