The National and Busia County Governments have put elaborate measures in place to ensure that no case of the deadly Ebola enters the country.
Addressing the press after hosting Western Regional Commissioner Isaiah Nakoru and the border security team in his office at Busia Agricultural Training Centre today, Governor Paul Otuoma said as a county government, they were cooperating with the National Government to educate county residents on the need to take precautions against the killer pandemic.
“Its good news that no single case of Ebola has been detected in the country since it was reported in neighbouring Uganda with one case reported in Kakamega turning negative after tests were carried out,” he said.
“We are one person, thus the need for coordinated efforts and collaboration between the two levels of Government to keep Ebola at Bay,” he added.
Nakoru said he is satisfied with Ebola preparedness and strategies in the county although more needs to be done on preparedness and surveillance at the three entry points of Busia, Malaba and Lwakhakha.
Owing to porous borders, the Regional Commissioner said there was need to sensitize the community as part of the solution to combat the vice and put structures up to village levels.
Nakoru and the security team which later toured Malaba said traffic snarl up at the border town was raising concerns with goods clearance taking a long time.
He said Ebola was more deadly than Covid-19, noting that it spreads through body contact and urged Kenyans to be proactive. With a disease surveillance team in place, Nakoru urged the Governor to strengthen it.
Over the past three days, Uganda’s health ministry has reported eight more Ebola cases, along with two more deaths, with officials also announcing that a doctor was among the fatalities.
Since the outbreak on September 20, Uganda continues to report a steady stream of new cases, but so far, the illnesses appears to be limited to hot spots in the west central part of the country near Mubende.
The new developments lift the country’s overall total to 62 cases, 27 of them fatal. Of the 62 cases, 43 are lab-confirmed and 19 are listed as probable. Of the 27 deaths, 9 were in lab-confirmed patients, and 18 are classified as probable.
In its latest update on Twitter today, the ministry said 24 people were in treatment for their infections and 882 contacts have been identified for follow-up.
Over the weekend, Uganda Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero announced the first death of a doctor, Mohammed Ali, a 37-year-old from Tanzania who tested positive for Ebola on September 26 and died while receiving treatment at an isolation center at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital.
Ocero said Ali is the second healthcare worker to die in the outbreak. The other is a midwife from St Florence Clinic who is listed as a probable case. The woman died before she tested positive of the disease.
