The County government of Kericho is closely monitoring a suspected Ebola case after a patient was taken in with symptoms similar to those of Ebola patients on Sunday evening. In a press statement, the Kericho County Referral Hospital said the County Disease Surveillance Team took over the matter and the necessary precautions to ensure there was minimal contact between the patient and other people at the hospital.
The patient, who had travelled from Malaba, has been placed in isolation and blood samples have been sent to the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) in Kisumu, with results expected within 12 to 24 hours, effectively on Monday evening. Three people have been quarantined in Kericho.
The suspected case raises questions about the porous Kenya-Uganda border. West Media had already highlighted the situation at the Suam border point, where residents said no measures had been taken to screen people crossing over from Uganda to Kenya. Buses carrying students and other passengers were freely crossing the border, and it was business as usual, with others uninformed about the Ebola disease that has killed two people in Uganda. However, screening has also been intensified at the Busia border post. Two screening posts have been set up at the border point as the government steps up efforts to ensure the disease doesn’t spread to Kenya.