With the Ebola outbreak in West Africa spreading to countries like the US and Spain, experts have cautioned that India may be “inadequately prepared” to contend with any sudden outbreak of the disease for which an alert has been sounded around the world.

The Health Ministry has initiated several measures to scale up the capacity to fight Ebola, and the Government has advised citizens against all non-essential travel to the four affected countries — Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

The capacity of the National Institute of Virology in Pune and the National Centre for Disease Control in Delhi to diagnose the disease has also been strengthened, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has said.

Danger: A man walks by a mural reading 'Ebola is real' in Monrovia, Liberia. Ebola, a hemorrhagic fever, has killed more than 4,000 people in an epidemic centered around Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone

However, experts believe India needs to do more so that it is fully prepared to cope with any cases of Ebola.

“As of now, there is no confirmed or suspected case of Ebola in India. But, there are a lot of other concerns that need to be addressed before we can say that we are adequately prepared.

"Designating just two laboratories for testing for the virus is just too small for a country of over a billion,” said Dr Jugal Kishore, author of a review of India’s effort to tackle the disease that was published in a recent issue of the Indian Journal of Youth and Adolescent Health.

Kishore, an expert on community medicine in the state-run Maulana Azad Medical College, said: “Learning from the past experience of managing the H1N1 pandemic in 2009, it is required that there should be increased number of laboratories designated for testing the virus in suspected cases, preferably in each state.

"Further, some private labs can be liaised with to increase the national capacity for laboratory work.”

The Government has made functional a 24-hour emergency helpline since Aug 9 (011- 23061469, 3205 and 1302).

In-flight announcements regarding the disease prior to landing are being done by airlines. Mandatory reporting of passengers from affected countries has been put in place at all major airports since August 10.

The surveillance system at airports and ports is being strengthened and the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme has been put on alert. But scientists feel the efforts may not be enough.

“Raising awareness about the disease is an important measure at the time of outbreak. Very little has been done in this regard as far is India is concerned.