1 Nigerian clears Ebola screening

NEW DELHI: The government on Monday denied reports of a Nigerian admitted at Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital testing positive for Ebola Virus Disease. Health minister Harsh Vardhan, however, confirmed that blood samples of a Nigerian were sent to National Centre for Disease Control and National Institute of Virology, Pune.
“We are assured that they tested negative and there is no cause for worry,” Vardhan said.He added that the samples were subjected to antigen Elisa and RT-PCR tests. Scientists at the Pune facility carried out sequencing and all tests confirmed that the Nigerian was free of the dreaded Ebola virus. He reassured people that there is no cause for panic. “We have systems in place for tracking anybody with symptoms of EVD through the 21-day danger period. Luckily, the disease is not airborne,” Vardhan said.