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Saturday, July 5, 2014

Kenya Health officials on high alert over Ebola


Saturday, July 5, 2014


In Summary

  • Kenya Airways has regular weekly flights to and from West African countries, which are currently at the epicentre of the deadly outbreak.
  • About 759 people have been infected with the virus in Guinea, Liberia and Sierre Leone and 467 of them have since died.
By MIKE MWANIKI
Public health officials and nurses at the Eldoret, Kisumu, Moi and Jomo Kenyatta international airports are on high alert following the outbreak of the deadly Ebola that has so far killed 467 people in West Africa.
Ministry of Health Directorate of Preventive and Promotive Diseases Head William Maina on Saturday said the airport health officials were carrying out random sampling of passengers who were arriving from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to guard against what has become the world’s deadliest disease outbreak.
“They are asking the travellers some questions and checking if they had any fever. At the same time, we have acquired the necessary protective gear as a precaution,” Dr Maina said in a telephone interview.
Currently, Kenya Airways has regular weekly flights to and from West African countries, which are currently at the epicentre of the deadly outbreak.
At the same time, Dr Maina announced that a joint response team comprising of officials from the World Health Organisation, Centre for Disease Control, Kenya Medical Research Institute and Ministry of Health was on stand-by.
The team is led by an Epidemiologist in the Ministry of Health’s disease control unit, Dr Ian Njeru.
On Friday, health ministers from 11 West African countries adopted a common strategy to fight the deadly disease.
At an emergency meeting in Ghana, the ministers promised to better collaboration to fight what has become the world’s deadliest outbreak, killing people in a short time.
About 759 people have been infected with the virus in Guinea, Liberia and Sierre Leone and 467 of them have since died.
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