Kathmadnu, May 25 -- At a time when Ebola was spreading across several African countries in September 2015, a Niger national had come to Nepal without legal documents. When infrared thermal imaging cameras at the health desk at Tribhuvan International Airport detected a high temperature, health workers stationed there for temperature screening fled in panic. Even some police personnel reportedly fled from the scene.

Two policemen pointed their guns at the man and ordered him not to move. The frightened man started to cry.

"A kind of panic broke out at the airport. I myself had reached the airport to take stock of the situation," said Dr Baburam Marasini, a public health expert who was then director at the Epidemiology and Disease Contro...