A woman, who recently returned from Uganda, has sparked an Ebola infection scare in India. The woman was quarantined at a Bengaluru hospital after she displayed Ebola-like symptoms, news agency Reuters reports.
The woman has been kept in isolation at the state-run Epidemic Diseases Hospital in Bengaluru for observation and further evaluation. She reported mild symptoms of body ache after returning from Uganda.
“The individual is otherwise in a healthy condition till now apart from mild body ache. A sample has been collected and sent to the National Institute of Virology for laboratory testing. Test results are awaited,” the EDH said.
The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare is coordinating with state authorities and closely monitoring the situation. All necessary public health protocols are being followed in accordance with WHO guidelines, the EDH said.
At present, no case of Ebola virus disease has been confirmed in India.
India develops Ebola vaccine
Researchers at the University of Oxford, working alongside international partners including Serum Institute of India, are pushing ahead with vaccines and treatment options targeting the Ebola strain responsible for the ongoing outbreak in Congo, Uganda and South Sudan.
Professor Teresa Lambe, head of Vaccine Immunology at the Oxford Vaccine Group, under the Pandemic Sciences Institute, said animal testing for Oxford’s vaccine candidate has already begun and is progressing through collaborations worldwide.
Lambe said the team hopes to prepare clinical-grade vaccine doses within the next two to three months with support from Serum Institute of India, which she described as an organisation capable of moving quickly at scale.
Why is the 2026 Ebola outbreak worrying the world?
The latest Ebola outbreak was confirmed in Congo and Uganda earlier this month. The outbreak was caused by a new Ebola virus strain, known as the Bundibugyo species. There is no vaccine or specific treatment so far for this strain. However, Russia on Wednesday claimed that it has made a breakthrough in vaccines.
The 2026 Ebola outbreak is suspected to have claimed more than 220 lives so far, with at least 11 confirmed deaths. The World Health Organisation has warned that this outbreak is threatening to spiral out of control.
WHO’s director-general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “We are scaling up operations, but at the moment, the epidemic is outpacing us.”
