A suspected Ebola case in Bengaluru pushed Karnataka’s health system into emergency surveillance mode this week after a 28-year-old woman from Uganda developed symptoms shortly after arriving in the city. The woman had travelled from Uganda to Ahmedabad before reaching Bengaluru, where she later complained of mild body ache and was shifted from a hotel to the state-run Epidemic Diseases Hospital on May 26. Samples were immediately sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune.
Bengaluru District Surgeon and Medical Superintendent Anil Kumar Banagar said airport officials had already been monitoring the traveller because of her recent movement from an Ebola-affected region. “The District Surveillance team and airport health officials were tracking her condition”, Banagar told reporters. Health officials said the woman showed no symptoms during airport screening. Her condition reportedly changed nearly 24 hours later.
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Karnataka Activates Quarantine Facilities
The Karnataka Health Department has now identified multiple quarantine and isolation centres across Bengaluru and Mangaluru. Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases has been designated as an isolation facility, while Epidemic Diseases Hospital is handling quarantine operations.
In Mangaluru, Srinivas Port Hospital and Wenlock District Hospital were also placed on standby. Officials said repeat testing would follow even if the first Ebola result comes back negative. “The test reports are expected in a day or two. She will be discharged only after testing negative twice”, Banagar said.
WHO Emergency Adds Pressure
The alert comes days after the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 17. The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which currently has no broadly approved vaccine. WHO has classified regional risk as “high”.
India’s Health Ministry has already issued advisories asking states to strengthen surveillance, hospital preparedness and rapid response systems. The current outbreak has revived memories of the 2014 Ebola crisis, when Indian airports screened thousands of passengers arriving from West Africa. Public health experts say airport checks alone may not detect all infections because symptoms can appear days after travel.
So far, Karnataka authorities have not confirmed whether the Bengaluru patient tested positive. Contact tracing details and passenger information have also not been released.
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