Suspected Ebola Case in Hyd, Passenger Isolated at Gandhi Hospital, 3 Under Watch in Chhattisgarh

India's health machinery was on heightened alert on Thursday as two separate Ebola-related precautionary actions unfolded simultaneously, a suspected case triggering isolation at Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad , and three international returnees placed under home monitoring in Chhattisgarh's Durg district .

A traveller from Sudan suspected of having Ebola was admitted to the isolation ward at Gandhi General Hospital in Secunderabad after being flagged during thermal screening at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in the early hours of Thursday. The passenger, aged above 35, was found to have a body temperature of 100°F and was shifted to the designated nodal centre for observation and testing owing to his travel history from a high-risk country. The passenger had travelled to Hyderabad for a planned knee surgery at a private hospital. He had recently travelled to South Sudan and Uganda , and the Airport Health Organisation, which has set up a dedicated screening centre for Ebola-related symptoms, treated this as a suspected case , noting that classification as a confirmed case would only follow after testing.

Dr Vamsi Krishna , Nodal Officer for Ebola Preparedness at Gandhi Hospital, clarified that the referral was purely precautionary, based on travel history and the fever reading, and not on any confirmed signs of infection. "The patient is not reporting any complaints. Since he had arrived from Sudan, authorities immediately informed us and placed him in isolation," he said. Blood samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for testing, and details of fellow passengers on the largely empty flight have been collected for contact tracing .

Meanwhile, in Chhattisgarh, three persons who recently returned to Durg district from Ebola-affected countries in Africa were placed under 21-day home isolation as a precautionary measure. The three travellers show no symptoms and have no history of contact with infected persons. Durg Collector Abhijeet Singh said one woman arrived from the Democratic Republic of Congo on May 31, while two others reached Bhilai on June 2 from Ethiopia and Uganda. Two are Indian nationals and one is a Ugandan citizen. All three fall under Category 1 of the national risk classification, meaning they are asymptomatic with no known exposure. Health officials are monitoring them through twice-daily telephonic follow-ups .

The incidents reflect a broader national pattern. Telangana had earlier placed 58 passengers from Ebola-affected countries arriving in Hyderabad under Category-I surveillance and 21-day home isolation, with the state government establishing a 10-bed isolation ward at Gandhi Hospital. The Union Health Ministry issued a nationwide advisory on June 2, confirming no cases in India while urging travellers from affected regions to monitor themselves for 21 days and report any symptoms promptly.

The global alarm stems from the outbreak declared in DRC's Ituri Province and Uganda in May 2026, caused by the Bundibugyo ebolavirus , with over 1,000 suspected cases and 349 deaths reported as of late May. The WHO declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 17. No confirmed Ebola case has been reported in India so far.