Kenya ready to respond in case of Ebola outbreak

The Kenyan DAILY POSTNews23:44

Tuesday, the 31^st of July 2012 -Several top health officials have told the Kenyan DAILY POST that the country is ready to respond in the unfortunate possibility that an Ebola virus outbreak happens in the country.

Uganda is currently facing the daunting task of containing the spread of the Ebola virus after news had it on Monday that one person had died in the capital Kampala. That death brought the official death toll to 14.

With Kenya having to pay attention to events across the border, the Director of Public Health Dr Shahnaaz Shariff has told the Kenya DAILY POST that several emergency teams are ready to respond in the instance of an outbreak;

“We are confident Ebola will be contained in Uganda but in case of an outbreak in Kenya, we are prepared to handle it,” said Shariff.

His sentiments were echoed by Busia District Public Health Officer Ambrose Fwamba who said the health officials in the District were stepping up screenings of people coming from across the border with Uganda;

“We are using the Provincial Administration and education officials to pass information regarding transmission and how to identify those who have contracted the disease,” said Fwamba.

Despite the optimism, Veronica Kiluva of the Centre for Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology however warned the officials concerned that they cannot afford to be slack;

“What we need to do is ensure that we vet all those crossing our borders to avoid the spread of the deadly disease,” said Dr Kiluva.

“Health officers should use all possible platforms to intensify sensitisation of the public on how to identify early symptoms of the disease,” she concluded.

The Kenyan DAILY POST