Health authorities in India decided to put a 26-year-old Ebola survivor under quarantine, after finding his semen positive for the virus.

The man is the first case of Ebola inside India.

The man had arrived in New Delhi from Liberia on November 10, almost two months after he was released from a hospital in the West African nation where he was confined after showng symptoms of the disease.

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He was released from the hospital on September 30 with documents declaring him as free of the clinical signs of Ebola.

Just to be sure, Indian authorities carried out tests on his body fluids, and confirmed traces of the virus in his semen.

An Indian health ministry statement said the man was not currently having any symptoms of Ebola.

"However, he would be kept under isolation in the special health facility of the Delhi Airport Health Organization, till such time his body fluids test negative and he is found medically fit to be discharged," the statement said.

"This is like a dress-rehearsal for India, and while we are already in the mode of preparation, this case will help us galvanize into action," said Hemant Thacker, a consultant at the Bhatia Hospital in Mumbai.

India's Health Minister J.P. Nadda immediately held talks with representatives from other departments to discuss the first detection of the deadly virus in the country. Nadda advised a stronger passenger surveillance effort at the country's airports and seaports, at the same time ordering expert teams out to visit India's various states to check government preparedness to deal with Ebola.

Doctors at the ministry of health said patients whose blood samples test negative for Ebola after treatment continue to shed the virus in their body fluids, such as urine and semen. A male survivor with infected semen may not show symptoms, but could still transmit the disease to his sexual partners.

Airport authorities have screened thousands of travellers arriving from Ebola-hit countries in West Africa since the outbreak of the disease. 

TagsNew Delhi, West Africa, Ministry of Health India