CHENNAI: Two Sudanese who arrived in Chennai airport in the last three days were quarantined as their vaccination certificates for yellow fever — mandatory for passengers from countries where it is epidemic — did not have dates of their vaccination. However, officials said it was only a precautionary step, adding that the two would be allowed to leave after being kept in observation for a few days.
The alarm was triggered after Mahmoud Abdelrhman Elraj (53), who arrived on Monday, and Alwaleed Ahmed Abdalgader Salim (25), who landed on Saturday, from Khartoum, capital of Sudan, at the Chennai international airport. Both are relatives. While Elraj has come on a business trip the latter’s was for education. During the routine screening, the medical team noticed that their passports had stamped as having been vaccinated for yellow fever, but there was no mention of the date.
“It is the standard protocol to quarantine the people, who come from yellow fever epidemic countries without proper vaccination certificate. We will send them back after six days, as per the protocol,” Dr K Kolandaswamy, Director of Public Health told Express.
The two were later shifted to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. “We have quarantined them in a place safe from mosquitoes. The vaccination will become effective after 10 days from the day it is administered. These passengers were missed during checks in other airports” Kolandaswamy added.