Preventive measures: Two Nigerian nationals test negative for Ebola

Were shifted to HMC after landing at Bacha Khan International Airport.

PESHAWAR: Minutes after Nigerian nationals Fatima Omolola and Banwo Bologan landed at the Bacha Khan International Airport (BKIA) on Wednesday morning, they were driven straight to Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) to screen for Ebola. Luckily, a health scare was avoided since they tested negative for the virus.

Omolola and Bologan arrived at the airport on an Emirates Airline flight early morning.  Since they were coming from Nigera, one of the countries affected by a major Ebola outbreak, they were escorted by health officials deputed at the airport by the federal government.

According to airport officials, the Civil Aviation Authority had informed the health department about the incoming foreign travellers and also provided an ambulance to shift them to HMC for Ebola screening.



BKIA health officer and the focal person for Ebola in K-P, Dr Kashmala Orakzai, told The Express Tribune the passengers had arrived to Pakistan from Nigeria via Dubai. “Doctors examined both passengers at HMC’s isolation room and after a proper investigation, they tested negative for the Ebola virus,” said Dr Orakzai.

According to Dr Orakzai, the Nigerian nationals told the examination team that they had been scanned for the disease in their country as well. “It is our duty to screen people for Ebola even if they have already been screened. Our team is vigilant and is performing duties round the clock,” she said.

At BKIA, a six-member team of doctors is screening patients entering the city with a manual thermometer instead of a thermal scanner since the scanner has been sent
to Karachi. The team deals with 75 international flights every week.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2014.