The Hindu report said that the man has been kept in the isolation ward of the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, where his health is being closely monitored by a team of doctors and staff who have taken the precautionary measures recommended.

According to details emerging at the hospital on Sunday morning, the person arrived from the Western African nation to proceed towards his home in Theni district of Tamil Nadu.

A team of health workers who have been put at the airport to check all passengers arriving from the Western African region, where the Ebola virus spread has been reported by the WHO, detained the passenger on precautionary grounds and transferred him to the hospital. The flight arrived at 8.45 p.m. and he was quickly transferred to the hospital. He has been placed under observation in the isolation ward 215.

Doctor S. Raghunandan, deputy medical superintendent of the hospital, told reporters that a separate team of doctors and health workers have been deputed to observe the patient. They have all been provided with special goggles, gloves and boots which would be used while accessing the patient.

“As of now the patient is asymptomatic. A blood sample to Pune (National Institute of Virology) and the results expected within the next 24 to 48 hours. We are monitoring his temperature every four hours. If the blood results are negative for Ebola virus, we would transfer him to a local facility near his home but will continue to incubate and monitor him for a period of 20 days," the doctor added.

This correspondent who was at the hospital on Sunday morning also noted that the corridor leading to the isolation ward had been cordoned off, and that all the nurses and the health workers at the hospital were wearing face masks.

Special Reporter/SDF