Panic gripped Manipur when a Japanese woman who had made a stop-over at Imphal was suspected of having infected with Ebola virus. The tourist, identified as Kawakubo Yuko (27), had already visited five countries. She was coming to Nagaland and had checked in at a hotel in Imphal as she was planning to visit some places in the state. She came to Manipur from Myanmar by road.

Doctors said that she had started showing symptoms of a patient suffering from Ebola. She was shifted to a private hospital in Imphal. Local tests for some common ailments proved negative.

Accordingly the doctors here collected her blood samples for testing at the National Institute of Virology, Pune.

Later she was admitted in J.N. Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal since there are better medical facilities. Hospital sources said that she is kept in an isolation room. If she is found to be Ebola positive many other persons of the hotel, the doctors and paramedics in the government and the private hospitals are susceptible to this deadly disease. Hospital sources said that since there is no proper isolation ward in JNIMS the patient may be shifted to Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal if she is found to be Ebola positive. Sources also said that all tourists coming by road or flight to Manipur may be screened for this disease.