The Ministry of Health has directed all county governments to immediately enhance Ebola preparedness and response measures following a confirmed outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and an imported Ebola-related death in neighbouring Uganda.
The ministry said no Ebola case has been detected in Kenya so far, but warned that increased regional movement of people and goods raises the risk of cross-border transmission.
In an advisory issued by Public Health Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni on Saturday, county governments and health departments were instructed to intensify screening and surveillance at airports, seaports, land border crossings and other transit points.
Counties were also ordered to activate rapid response teams, strengthen infection prevention measures and prepare isolation and treatment facilities.
The ministry said the alert followed reports from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention confirming an Ebola outbreak in Ituri Province in eastern DRC.
According to Africa CDC, 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths have been reported, mainly in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones, while laboratory tests conducted in Kinshasa confirmed Ebola infection in 13 out of 20 samples tested.
Kenya’s health authorities also raised concern over the spread of the outbreak into Uganda after a 59-year-old Congolese national died while receiving treatment at Kibuli Muslim Hospital in Kampala.
Ugandan authorities confirmed the patient tested positive for Ebola Bundibugyo Virus Disease after laboratory analysis conducted at the Central Emergency Surveillance and Response Laboratory in Wandegeya.
“The Ministry of Health wishes to assure all Kenyans that, as of today, no confirmed or suspected case of Ebola Virus Disease has been detected within the Republic of Kenya,” the advisory stated.
“However, owing to the significant movement of persons and goods within the East and Central African region, all County Governments are hereby directed to immediately activate and enhance preparedness and response measures.”
Health officials have also been instructed to intensify public awareness campaigns, counter misinformation and conduct refresher training for healthcare workers on Ebola case management, safe burials and infection prevention.
The measures follow the World Health Organization declaration of the Ebola outbreak in DRC a public health emergency of international concern.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned there were still “significant uncertainties to the true number of infected persons and geographic spread” of the outbreak.
WHO said the current outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there are no approved vaccines or drugs.
The agency confirmed the virus had already spread beyond DRC into Uganda and warned that countries bordering the affected areas faced a high risk of transmission because of trade, travel and population movement.
Ebola, first identified in 1976 in what is now DRC, spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids and can cause severe bleeding, organ failure and death. Symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, diarrhoea and unexplained bleeding.