COIMBATORE: While fight to minimise the effects of deadly Ebola virus has been intensified globally, health officials believe Tamil Nadu is on the safer side, as 314 persons, who were among the 702 under observation, recently completed their one-month quarantine period without being diagnosed positive.
A senior official of the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine told Express on Saturday that the remaining 388 persons with travel history in Ebola affected countries were still under observation. However, the official added that none of the persons under observation in the State had manifested symptoms of the deadly virus.
Of the 700-odd quarantined, 652 were from the African nation of Nigeria, which, by far, was the nationality of the highest number passengers under observation, the official said.
The intensity of the disease, which has claimed thousands in Africa, has now subsided in countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, the official added.
Meanwhile, the official said that the department had added passengers coming from Congo and Senegal on the list of countries to watch out for. “People with travel history in these two countries will also be under scanner for 30 days along with passengers coming from Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria,” he said, adding that monitoring would continue as long as the World Health Organisation (WHO) demanded it.