Description of the Event
Provide any updates in the situation since the field report and explain what is expected to happen
Following the EVD outbreak in neighbouring Uganda, the Kenya Ministry of Health has issued an alert to all counties across the country. This comes after an alert forwarded by the Ugandan government to Kenya in line with the East African Community Health Protocol. The outbreak of EVD in Uganda poses a significant threat to the country as the frequency of Ebola outbreaks in Uganda has taken a unique pattern in recent times. The outbreak was vigorously spreading and has a high case fatality (20.9%).
As of the month of November reports of the Ebola virus disease has reached Jinja district (117km from the Busia-Uganda border) showed that the trend of spreading was fast moving towards the Kenyan border. Moreover, traders and travelers using the Trans-African highway and other major roads leading in and out of Uganda increased the chances of the disease spreading to Kenya predisposing border counties to high risk for EVD outbreaks. Kenya carries out routine surveillance with zero reporting on Viral Hemorrhagic Fever (VHFs) for the moment. This was an acknowledgment of the risk of EVD outbreaks that the country faces as it has similar vulnerabilities to Uganda. (population movement due to porous borders and strong commercial ties as well as previous cross-border disease outbreaks. Indeed, Kenya and Uganda have both previously reported VHFs, including Rift Valley Fever and Marburg disease as well as other disease outbreaks (cholera, Dengue, etc).
In addition, the daily human interactions between Kenya and Uganda are significant with approximately 1,000 trucks crossing the borders daily. This is in addition to the commercial and cultural interactions along the porous and unofficial borders.
In the context of Uganda, the Ebola Virus Disease was declared over by the Ministry of Health on 11th January 2023, after 42 days of zero reporting. This achievement was due to prior preparations that had been set up by the Ministry of Health and the Ugandan Red Cross. It is in this regard that Kenya as a neighboring country is timely preparing for the outbreak and re-emergency outbreak through the Ebola Preparedness and response pillars.
In terms of implementation, all interventions have been implemented as expected as the activities were accelerated immediately after they kicked off. There is only one pending activity; Training of teams on Safe and Dignified Burials Management. The activity is pending due to a delay in the procurement of SDB training kits. This has also caused delays in conducting drills by the SDB teams in the counties
Source : Re;iefWeb
