Strict travel guidelines introduced following yellow fever cases

No Kenyan will be allowed to leave the country to Angola unless they prove that they have been vaccinated against yellow fever.

Acting Director of Medical Services Jackson Kioko says foreigners from Angola to Kenya must also have a valid yellow fever vaccination certificate, having been vaccinated at least 10 days before travel.

In a raft of measures announced by the Ministry of Health to curb the possible spread of the deadly virus, Kioko has also said travellers from Angola who are not Kenyan citizens or residents, and do not have valid yellow fever vaccination certificates, will be denied entry into the country.

This comes following the confirmation of a second case of the deadly fever in Nairobi this week. On Thursday, the government confirmed another case of Yellow Fever in Nairobi’s South C area.

The victim, a 31-year-old man who has been working as a shopkeeper in Angola for ten years, arrived in the country on Saturday through Ethiopia. Upon screening at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), he was found to have symptoms of the disease.

The victim first sought medical attention in Nairobi’s Eastleigh estate before the Ministry of Health followed up on his case and subsequently quarantined him before taking him to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) where he has been admitted.

On Wednesday, man who had also arrived from Angola died from complications brought about by the disease at KNH.

Health officials at points of entry began screening travelers coming in from countries prone to yellow fever including Angola where 158 people have died from the disease over the last one year.

After the two cases, the Ministry of Health issued an alert about the deadly disease.