NAIROBI – Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki has allayed fears of the deadly Ebola outbreak in the country, saying preliminary analysis on a patient isolated at the Kericho County Referral Hospital had confirmed that she has no Ebola symptoms.
Sicily, who spoke at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) during inspection of surveillance measures, says medics have sent her blood samples to the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) laboratories in Nairobi for further tests, with results expected later on Monday.
“A rapid surveillance and response team has examined the patient who is in stable condition and has confirmed that the patient does not meet the meet the case definition of Ebola,” she said, “. Allow me to confirm to Kenyans that the patient does not meet the case definition of Ebola.”
The Health CS says that the government has put in place strict measures to ensure the pandemic does not get into the country, with increase surveillance at the border points.
Meanwhile, the number of people put in isolation in Kericho over fears of Ebola has risen to four.
They include a woman earlier reported to have traveled from the Busia border, her husband and two of their friends.
Kericho Governor Paul Chepkwony says the four are being monitored, with samples having been sent to KEMRI in Nairobi for further analysis.
Uganda is on high alert after two people – a five-year-old boy and her grandmother –
died days after arriving in the country from the Democratic Republic of Congo that has reported several fatalities from Ebola.
In Kisumu, an isolation ward has been set up at the county’s Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital due to its proximity to Uganda.
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