African countries issue alert as Ebola strikes DR Congo

NAIROBI

Rwanda, Uganda, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and other African countries have heightened border surveillance following an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rwanda launched screening at its border posts with the DR Congo in order to detect the deadly virus.

“Anybody entering the country via Rubavu and Rusizi districts has to pass through temperature screening,” a statement by the Rwanda Health ministry said.

Uganda’s Health minister Sarah Opendi said her country’s health task force had been reactivated.

She said healthworkers on the western border districts had been instructed to monitor and screen people entering the country from the DR Congo.

“We have written to district health officers asking them to increase surveillance, raise public awareness and alert citizens about the Ebola outbreak in the neighbouring country,” the minister said.

ISSUED ALERT

Ghana Health Service issued a similar alert on Ebola, calling on the country’s regional directors to be prepared to handle the disease.

A statement issued by the director general of the Ghana Health Service Anthony Nsiah-Asare asked officials to strengthen surveillance for early detection and response, update preparedness and response programmes and ensure their areas had holding places.

Kenya’s director of medical services Jackson Kioko said the government had reactivated rapid response teams for enhanced surveillance.

He said travellers with elevated body temperature, especially those from the DR Congo, were being monitored.

REMAIN VILGILANT
“We wish to assure Kenyans that there is no suspected case of Ebola virus in the country but they should remain vigilant, look out for any such illnesses and report to the nearest hospital for verification and investigation,” Kioko said.

Tanzania dispatched a team of experts to six regions in order to improve detection and information against any Ebola outbreak.

Health authorities in Zambia have also intensified surveillance in areas bordering the DR Congo.

Zambia’s Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya said the government had put in place intervention measures to ensure the disease did not spread to the country.

SCREENING PEOPLE

“Health officials are screening all people entering the country for Ebola while protective equipment have been distributed,” the minister added.

Nigeria’s Health minister Isaac Adewole advised doctors, nurses and the public to report any sign of the illness to relevant officials.

DR Congo’s Health ministry on Friday confirmed the outbreak of an Ebola epidemic in its north of the country.

Authorities said three deaths had been reported among nine suspected cases of the virus since April 22.

An Ebola epidemic in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and several other West African nations killed an estimated 11,000 people in late 2015 and early last year.