Uganda Ebola outbreak: Health CS says border points secured

The Ministry of Health on Friday moved to assure Kenyans that it has secured all points of entry following the outbreak of Ebola in Uganda.

According to Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki, the ministry has deployed staff who served during the outbreak in Sierra Leone to the border points.

CS Kariuki further issued an alert to health workers across the country to be vigilant and look out for any person presenting acute fever, vomiting or diarrhea.

She further directed that they check if they have a history of travel in the DRC or in Uganda or whether they had come into contact with persons from those areas.

At the Congo-Uganda border in Bwera, all travelers are required to use disinfectants and undergo screening. Those with high temperatures taken to a separate rooms for further observation.

The World Health Organization (WHO) however says the situation has not reached levels to be declared a public health emergency.

“We are on ground everywhere in the district, in the health facilities, in the communities undertaking surveillance. Community-based surveillance and facility-based surveillance,” said Benjamin Sensasi- World Health organization Communication officer.

Two people have already been reported to have died from the deadly fever in Western Uganda.

Since the outbreak in Congo in August last year, 1,390 people have died so far.

Ebola is a viral disease that spreads through contact with bodily fluids, causing hemorrhagic fever with severe vomiting, diarrhoea and bleeding.