Surveillance stepped up amid DRC Ebola outbreak

Kenya will not cancel flights from the Democratic Republic of Congo despite a reported Ebola outbreak in the country’s northwestern Bikoro region.

Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala said the country has stepped up surveillance efforts, saying it is ready to screen all entry points.

“DRC is more than 3,000km away, but we are already prepared for screening all the targeted areas where Ebola can come into the country. The last epidemic affected the entire continent, but it is not the same case this time,” said the CS while addressing journalists at the airport on Friday.

Health CS Sicily Kariuki said: “Among the measures put in place to enhance screening are electronic thermal scanners, handgun thermal scanners and the deployment of 101 extra health workers.”

Already, public health officers at the Busia border say they have stepped up screening of travellers entering the country, following a directive by the Health ministry.

Addressing journalists on Friday, senior public health officer at the Busia One Stop Border Post (OSBP) Evelyn Walela said apart from checking for temperatures, visitors from Uganda are being asked to answer a brief questionnaire on their movements.

At the Taveta OSBP, the health department has also commenced screening of travellers from neighbouring Tanzania.

“We check their passports to see whether they might have gone to DRC in the last 21 days. If yes, then the person becomes a suspect and is supposed to fill a surveillance form,” said the OSBP’s public health official Ishmael Murage. He said they also use thermal guns to check temperature.

Reported by Aggrey Omboki, Gaitano Pessa and Lucy Mkanyika