Nairobi, Feb 1 (IANS) Kenya’s Ministry of Health has intensified surveillance at all entry points across the country following an outbreak of Sudan Ebola Virus Disease in neighbouring Uganda.
“As a precautionary measure, surveillance systems have been enhanced in all counties and points of entry,” Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Health Mary Muthoni said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
Muthoni said a rapid assessment of the country’s capacity to respond to a similar outbreak is underway, shortly after which a comprehensive plan will be developed to guide countrywide preparedness and response to Ebola.
She encouraged the public to seek accurate information from qualified healthcare workers, community health promoters or the Ministry of Health through its website.
The statement came after the Ugandan Ministry of Health on Thursday declared an Ebola outbreak after a 32-year-old male nurse succumbed to Sudan Ebola virus Wednesday, marking the eighth outbreak of the deadly disease in the East African country, Xinhua news agency reported.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it is “working closely with Ugandan health authorities to revitalise a robust surveillance and case management system, community mobilization, and risk communication in response to the outbreak.”
Last September, Uganda’s Ministry of Health had announced the launch of a comprehensive Ebola preventive vaccination campaign targetting 25,000 people at high risk of contracting the deadly disease.
Charles Olaro, Director of Health Services at the ministry, said that the initiative aimed at safeguarding vulnerable populations and enhance preparedness against the viral disease in the country.
Olaro said that the ministry had acquired 25,000 Ebola vaccine regimens. The two-dose regimen has previously been used in the neighbouring Congo and Rwanda, with “Zabdeno” administered first and “Mvabea” given about eight weeks later as a second dose.
The Ebola virus is highly contagious and causes a range of symptoms, including fever, vomiting, diarrhea, generalized pain or malaise, and, in many cases, internal and external bleeding.
According to the World Health Organization, the mortality rates for Ebola fever are extremely high, with the human case fatality rate ranging from 50 per cent to 89 per cent, depending on the viral subtype.
–IANS
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