File Photo of Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.
The Nigerian national, whose blood samples were sent to National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune and was kept under observation at a hospital in New Delhi has tested negative for Ebola, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said today.
The Nigerian national's ELISA blood test for Ebola virus done at the NCDC here yesterday was stated to be "inconclusive".
"Our vigilant officials did send a person to RML Hospital. His blood samples were sent to National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and National Institute of Virology, Pune. We are assured that they tested negative and there is no cause for worry," Vardhan said.
The samples were subjected to Antigen Elisa and RT-PCR tests. In addition, scientists at the Pune facility carried out sequencing and all tests confirmed that the Nigerian national was free of the dreaded Ebola virus, the Minister said in a statement.
Vardhan assured that there is no cause for panic as systems are in place for tracking the disease.
"We have systems in place for tracking anybody with remotest symptoms of EVD (Ebola Virus Disease) throughout the 21-day danger period," he said.
Till now, 12,257 passengers have been screened at various international airports. Several departments of the central government are working in tandem with state governments to ensure total surveillance, the Minister said.
Meanwhile, WHO has reported that worldwide 2,127 EVD cases have been detected till August 13 and the total fatalities is 1,145.