3 days ago
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Following the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) declaration of the ongoing Ebola Disease outbreak successful the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda arsenic a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) connected Sunday (May 17, 2026), the Centre has directed each States and Union Territories to fortify surveillance, infirmary preparedness and accelerated effect systems.
In a connection to States, Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava said countries bordering the affected regions, including South Sudan, were astatine precocious hazard of transmission, though the contiguous hazard to countries extracurricular the affected African portion remained low.
The Secretary, however, cautioned that increasing planetary commercialized and question necessitated “adequate preparedness and effect capacities astatine each levels of the wellness system”.
Unusual clusters of fever
States person been asked to intensify surveillance nether the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) for antithetic clusters of fever and symptoms suggestive of Ebola Disease, peculiarly among individuals with caller question past to affected regions.
The advisory listed symptoms specified arsenic fever, weakness, musculus pain, headache, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhoea, tummy pain, rash and reddish eyes arsenic informing signs requiring adjacent monitoring.
The Ministry has besides circulated a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) covering illness surveillance, illustration collection, retention and referral mechanisms for suspected Ebola cases.
Isolation facilities
States person been instructed to place designated isolation facilities and dedicated ambulances with corruption prevention and power measures successful place. The advisory besides called for ensuring capable availability of trained healthcare personnel, idiosyncratic protective instrumentality (PPE), logistics support, laboratory facilities and captious attraction infrastructure.
The Health Secretary said the Indian Council of Medical Research’s National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, remained afloat equipped to trial samples from suspected Ebola cases identified either astatine Points of Entry oregon wrong communities.
Additional ICMR web laboratories would besides beryllium strengthened depending connected the evolving situation, her missive said.
The connection stressed the request for establishing coordination mechanisms betwixt NIV Pune, airdrome and larboard wellness authorities, State Surveillance Units and District Surveillance Units for timely referral and investigating of samples.
Infection prevention and control
States person further been asked to reenforce corruption prevention and power practices successful healthcare facilities, including triage systems, isolation protocols, manus hygiene, biology cleaning and biomedical discarded management.
The advisory besides called for refresher grooming programmes for healthcare workers, field-level unit and accelerated effect teams connected objective absorption protocols, interaction tracing and corruption power practices.
States and districts person been asked to support multidisciplinary Rapid Response Teams successful readiness for illness surveillance, outbreak power and objective absorption of suspected cases.
Emphasising the value of nationalist communication, the Secretary asked States to disseminate close accusation to forestall misinformation and unnecessary nationalist anxiety, portion sensitising frontline healthcare workers connected reporting pathways and infection-control measures.
