A member of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) puts on protective gear at the
isolation ward of the Donka Hospital, on July 23, 2014 in Conakry.
CELLOU BINANI | AFP
By CHRISTABEL LIGAMI, Special Correspondent
Posted Saturday, August 2 2014 at 18:06
Posted Saturday, August 2 2014 at 18:06
In Summary
Kenya and Uganda have this week been forced to
assure citizens that no cases have been reported especially after one
Korean woman who was found with fever symptoms was said to have
transited through Nairobi.
East Africa is on high alert following an
outbreak of Ebola, which has killed more than 670 people in West Africa.
Scientists believe the Ebola virus could spread to the region through
international travel and have asked governments to enhance surveillance
and screening for the disease at border points and airports.
All major airports in Tanzania have been equipped
with Ebola screening devices for testing passengers arriving from West
Africa for the virus.
“We have a special arrangement in all airports
where passengers are screened and when they are found infected we put
them in quarantine. So far none has been found infected,” Tanzanian
Minister for Health Seif Rashid said in a phone interview.
At the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport,
surveillance is being carried out for all flights from West Africa by
the Port Health Unit.
However, Kenya and Uganda have this week been
forced to assure citizens that no cases have been reported especially
after one Korean woman who was found with fever symptoms was said to
have transited through Nairobi.
Rwanda has set up a specialised clinic and
quarantine area at the Kigali International Airport, even though no case
has been reported in the country.
The virus has a gestation period of up to 21 days,
during which a traveller who is a carrier can easily pass through the
checks as a perfectly healthy person.
O-Tipo Shikanga, the head of Disease Surveillance
and Response, said the government had put in place measures to prevent
the spread of the disease. “The alert has been dispatched to port health
services countrywide and we are working with the airlines carrying
passengers to and from these countries,” said Mr Shikanga.
Uganda has been the worst hit in East Africa with
on and off Ebola outbreaks since the year 2000. Julius Lutwama, head of
the National Influenza Centre at the Uganda Virus Research Institute,
said the risks of the disease spreading would be minimal with restricted
travel.
With travel to and from West Africa yet to be
regulated, he said, the health systems in East Africa may not
immediately be able to detect people arriving with the fever.
“To be able to predict where the next outbreak is
going to be, you have to know what carries the virus. Right now, the
reservoir animal is not known; it could be an animal, insect or fruit
bats. So the whole region is at risk,” says Dr Lutwama.
Dr Radhid said the Tanzanian government would
launch an intensive campaign t sensitize the general public on the
symptoms of Ebola and how they can prevent infection.
Since 2000 Uganda has trained health workers,
opinion leaders and traditional medicine people to identify and report
any suspected cases immediately.
“The diagnostic lab is all the time receiving
samples for testing,” he said. However, renewed efforts from government
and other stakeholders are necessary to sustain and expand progress
achieved through implementation of Integrated Disease Surveillance and
Response (IDSR) IDSR.”
The Entebbe-based UVRI can now test and analyse
the Ebola virus as opposed to previous instances when the sample had to
be flown to CDC laboratories in Atlanta, US. This also accounts for the
faster diagnosis and detection of the virus compared with countries
whose healthcare systems are less robust. http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/EA-airports--borders-on-high-Ebola-alert/-/2558/2406470/-/wv334j/-/index.html