Kenya’s Health Ministry is calling for stronger support to contain the Ebola outbreak, with contact tracing, testing and quarantine capacity among its top priorities after the country confirmed eight infections as of October 18.
“We have eight confirmed Ebola virus disease (EVD) cases. One, of course, is the imported case, the index case. And then seven of them had close contact with this particular individual,” said Dr Daniel Langat, a medical epidemiologist at Kenya’s Ministry of Health.
Of 404 samples tested, eight were positive and 396 negative, while results for 39 contacts were still pending.
“Our priorities are clear. They are to detect and quickly isolate cases, to trace every contact, to protect our healthcare workers, and to keep communities informed at all times,” said Mary Muthoni Muriuki, Kenya’s Principal Secretary for Public Health.
Civil society representatives warned that inconsistent messaging could damage public confidence in the outbreak response.
“Every time new information is given, people think that it was hidden and has just been unleashed. And that is really something that speaks to our trust deficit, unfortunately,” said Dr Margaret Lubaale, Chief Executive Officer of the Health NGOs Network (HENNET).
Kenya’s first Ebola patient died in a Nairobi hospital on October 5, after travelling from the DRC via Uganda. The infection was officially confirmed the following day. Authorities have since identified 130 contacts, with 128 traced and placed in quarantine.
The outbreak has spread to eight provinces in the DRC, where more than 9,400 cases and 4,500 deaths have been reported since May.
Source: Viory
