Kenya’s Ministry of Health has called on churches to help raise public awareness about Ebola prevention as authorities intensify contact tracing and surveillance following the death of a man who travelled to Nairobi from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Africa’s public health agency, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), on Friday detailed the travel route taken by the 40-year-old man, who died in Nairobi on Monday.
The agency said temperature readings recorded at various screening points along his journey from the DRC through Uganda to Kenya remained within the normal range.
According to Africa CDC’s chief of emergency preparedness and response, Dr Wessam Mankoula, the man initially experienced symptoms including skin infections, a sore throat and general malaise but continued travelling between locations.
“During this movement they didn’t suspect that he is an Ebola case. Initially, some of skin infections, some sore throat, some of the malaise and he kept moving from one place to another,” Mankoula said.
Health officials have urged anyone developing symptoms associated with the disease to seek medical attention promptly, as efforts continue to identify and monitor people who may have come into contact with the deceased.
“If you start developing symptoms and you are moving from one place to another, please seek medical care. This is not only to prevent the movement of disease from one to another but also for your own protection,” Mankoula said.
Kenya has intensified public health communication on Ebola prevention and established an emergency hotline for people experiencing symptoms associated with the potentially deadly viral disease.
Mankoula stressed that the imported case did not, by itself, indicate an outbreak in Kenya.
“This is an imported case. We will say we have an outbreak when we start having local transmission, so we have a strong window of opportunity here in Kenya,” he said.
The Health Ministry has strengthened preparedness measures and urged religious institutions, particularly churches, to disseminate accurate information, promote preventive practices and encourage the early reporting of suspected infections.
Assistant Minister of Health Mary Muthoni appealed to Kenyans to remain calm and rely on official information from the government.
“Get your information only from official Ministry of Health channels. Avoid touching the body fluids of sick people and bodies, [of] those who have died from unknown illnesses,” she said.
Muthoni added that authorities had intensified contact tracing, surveillance at points of entry and public communication, while preparing facilities for possible isolation and treatment of suspected cases.
Ebola is a severe viral disease that spreads through direct contact with the blood and other bodily fluids of infected people, as well as contaminated materials and surfaces, including clothing and bedding.
The current outbreak was declared in the DRC in mid-May and has spread across multiple health zones. Government figures cited in the report put the number of recorded cases at at least 8,400, including more than 4,000 deaths.
The outbreak has been described as the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record, heightening concerns among regional health authorities about cross-border transmission.
Kenyan officials are continuing surveillance and contact-tracing operations as they seek to prevent further spread of the virus and reassure the public that the imported case has not yet established local transmission.
