A woman from Kerala has been hospitalised in Kottayam Medical College after developing symptoms that raised concerns about a possible Ebola infection.
According to officials, the woman who arrived from South Sudan was shifted to the hospital for an Ebola test after she developed a fever. The decision to move her to Kottayam Medical College was taken after considering her travel history, which included a visit to South Sudan, a country that has been under increased health surveillance due to Ebola-related concerns. Initially, she consulted medical experts at a private hospital in Pala.
Officials informed that she has been admitted to an isolation ward set up at Kottayam Medical College. Alongside, her blood samples have been taken and sent to a laboratory to understand if she has contracted the Ebola virus.
A medical board is expected to review the findings and determine further treatment and management once the test results become available.
Authorities have urged the public not to panic, emphasising that the case remains a suspected one and that no confirmation of Ebola infection has been made so far.
The Health Department had already issued an alert to hospitals across Kerala regarding Ebola cases abroad and decided to monitor people arriving from African countries.
A month after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international emergency, the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain has grown to more than 800 confirmed cases, Reuters reported.
The current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda is being driven by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, a rarer and particularly concerning variant that has triggered the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency of international concern.
