Authorities in India say a woman with a suspected Ebola infection has been placed in quarantine at a hospital in the southern city of Bengaluru.
The union health ministry has said that the individual is stable and that the samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology for testing.
It, however, stressed that no confirmed Ebola case has been reported so far.
“The government of India is closely monitoring the evolving Ebola Virus Disease situation in view of recent outbreaks reported in parts of Africa,” the ministry said in a statement.
Officials said surveillance and screening measures are being intensified in coordination with Karnataka authorities and in line with WHO guidelines and urged the public not to panic or spread misinformation.
Anul Kumar Banagar, the medical superintendent of the state-run Epidemic Diseases Hospital, said that the 28-year-old woman had travelled from Uganda to Ahmedabad before later arriving in Bengaluru.
Although she showed no symptoms during airport screening, the authorities reportedly continued monitoring her due to her recent travel to an Ebola-hit nation.
“The District Surveillance team and airport health officials were tracking her condition. She developed a mild body ache nearly 24 hours later, following which samples were collected and sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune,” Dr Banagar was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
“The test reports are expected in a day or two. Even if the result is negative, as per protocol, a repeat test will be conducted after 48 hours of observation. She will be discharged only after testing negative twice,” he added.