The State Health Minister of Gujarat, Praful Pansheriya, announced that the suspected Ebola case involving a 37-year-old businessman from Congo in the state has tested negative. The businessman, identified as Amuri Lokula, had recently traveled from Congo to Mumbai and visited Silvassa, Daman, and Vadodara. He arrived in Mumbai around 10 days ago, spent five days there, and then around four days in the Silvassa-Daman region before reaching Vadodara on May 22.
Pansheriya reassured the public, stating that the suspected Ebola patient’s report had returned negative, urging people not to panic or spread rumors. He emphasized the importance of relying only on official information issued by the Health Department and highlighted the government’s commitment to safeguarding public health. A Health Department source confirmed that only the businessman from Congo was tested for Ebola, with the report coming back negative.
The Health Department source mentioned that the reports of the other three individuals who had been quarantined after contact with the businessman were also negative. State authorities had quarantined four people, including the businessman, after he developed a fever following his travel from Africa. Isolation wards were prepared at various hospitals as a precautionary measure, and screening measures at the airport were intensified for passengers arriving from Ebola-affected countries. Health authorities in India have increased surveillance and monitoring following suspected Ebola cases in Gujarat and Bengaluru, although no confirmed cases have been reported in the country so far.
