File | NATION Travellers from Uganda undergo
Ebola screening at Busia border point. Kenya Airports Authority have issued
guidelines for airlines operating from Uganda to curb Ebola spread.
Posted Thursday, August 2 2012 at 21:00
In Summary
- Flights from Uganda expected to report suspected cases on board for emergency evacuation
Airport authorities have prepared guidelines for airlines operating flights
from Uganda to Kenya to ensure no Ebola cases enter the country.
These are part of measures taken to ensure that the deadly disease, which was
first detected in Kabaale district in Uganda, does not spread to
Kenya.
Kenya Airports Authority public health officer Mohammed Duba said
scheduled and chartered flights arriving from Uganda were expected to report
suspected cases on board so that emergency evacuation could be
arranged.
“We have issued memos to airlines with flights from Uganda to Nairobi
advising the crew on what steps to take in case there are any suspected cases on
board,” he said.
At the JKIA, an isolation facility has been set up and an emergency
exit prepared to evacuate visitors suspected to have contracted the disease that
has so far claimed 15 lives since it was first detected two weeks ago.
Other measures contained in the memo include a directive to have
precautionary equipment aboard flights and also prepare a locator card, which
entails filling in the names of two passengers sitting at the front, back and
sideways of a suspected case, which are then monitored on entering the
country.
...A suspected case in Siaya on Monday was cleared yesterday following
tests at Kemri, which came out negative. The man is said to have eaten
contaminated meat from a goat that had been rescued from a
python.
Separately, panic gripped Eldoret’s Moi Teaching and Referral
Hospital on Thursday morning after a patient exhibiting symptoms of Ebola sought
treatment.
Acting director John Kibosia said the patient had fever and traces of
blood in his urine and stool.
“The patient had clear symptoms of the haemorrhagic fever. We are
still treating it as a suspected case but we have isolated the patient in a
special wing to ensure that he doesn’t get in contact with others,” said Dr
Kibosia.
According to the relatives, the 20-year-old man had recently travelled to
Juba through Uganda.http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Airports+agency+issues+new+rules+to+check+Ebola+spread+/-/1056/1469828/-/eqx6vrz/-/index.html