Kenyan health authorities probe suspected Ebola case in Mumias
A billboard bearing a health message about ebola.
What you need to know:
- The patient had recently travelled to eastern Uganda to visit relatives, officials said.
Kenyan health officials in Kakamega say they are investigating a suspected case of Ebola.
The patient had recently travelled to eastern Uganda to visit relatives, officials said.
Mumias West Disease Surveillance Co-ordinator Boaz Gichana said in a statement released on Friday that the patient is currently at St Mary Hospital isolation unit awaiting laboratory tests.
Last week, the government issued an Ebola alert and called for screening of travellers at entry points on the border with Uganda.
Last month, Kenya put health officials on the border on high alert after the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was investigating a suspected case of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Previous Ebola outbreaks and responses have shown that early diagnosis and treatment with optimised supportive care, with fluid and electrolyte repletion and treatment of symptoms, significantly improve survival.
The disease is usually introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as fruit bats, chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope or porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest.
