By Sarah Omondi
One suspected case of Ebola has been reported in Mumias, Kakamega County.
The 32-year-old man from Nambale in Busia had traveled to eastern parts of Uganda to visit a relative a fortnight ago.
Reports indicate that while in the neighbouring country, he got a trauma and was cut at the right upper limb and the cut later surtured at a health facility in Uganda.
He would days ago travel back to Kenya to seek further medication.
On Wednesday, he started experiencing blood in the urine (hematuria) and proceeded to St Mary’s hospital in Mumias where he has been isolated for further management and laboratory tests.
A report by Mumias West Sub-County Disease Surveillance Coordinator Boaz Gichana shows the patient has general body weakness, his stitched wound was actively bleeding and has blood in his urine.
Uganda had by Wednesday, September 28 lost 23 people to the disease with at least 36 cases reported, 18 of whom had been confirmed while the rest were under evaluation.
The country has had at least three previous episodes of Ebola with the deadliest in 2000 claiming hundreds of lives.
Counties have been asked to remain vigilant and enhance surveillance especially at the border, activate rapid response teams to support identification of suspected cases and screen risk populations such as travelers, truck drivers and health care workers for the disease.
The Ministry of Health earlier asked the counties to sensitize health care workers on infection, prevention and control measures, case management and to mobilize several stakeholders to initiate prevention and response measures.
Nairobi and Mombasa counties have been listed as high-end entry points for Ebola virus with 16 other counties also put on alert.
Kenyans have been asked to look out for symptoms of the disease that include bleeding from body openings, fever, cough (chest pains) and a running stomach.
Covid-19 protocols on regular hand washing, wearing masks and maintaining social distance are among the preventive measures.
Also battling Ebola outbreak is the Democratic Republic of Congo that neighbours Uganda to the West and which detected its first case in August.
Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a rare but severe often fatal illness that is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.
Data from the World Health Organisation shows that the average EVD case fatality rate is around 50 percent and that case fatality rates have varied between 25 and 90 percent in past outbreaks.
The disease first appeared 46 years ago in two simultaneous outbreaks in Nzara (South Sudan) and Yambuku (Congo).
