The Ministry of Health has issued an update on the Mpox outbreak in the country.
In a statement on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health Mary Muthoni confirmed that the first patient has recovered.
The first patient who was a truck driver was identified on July 22, 2024, along the Taveta One Stop Border Point.
“The patient was isolated at Taveta Sub-County Hospital where the clinicians suspected either chickenpox or Mpox. Skin lesion samples were taken. Results from the National Public Health Laboratories detected Mpox on July 29, 2024. This was validated by other reference laboratories in the national laboratory network,” PS Muthoni explained.
However, after close medical care, the patient has recovered.
Identifying other persons
Besides recording the positive news, the ministry has launched a drive to identify all the people he interacted with.
With the disease being highly infectious, the Ministry of Health indicated that it has started tracing all his close contacts at his workplace, at the hospital where he was admitted and along his travel routes.
“The patient has travelled through Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda. So, we are working with our neighbouring countries to identify any contacts and any other potential cases. There is an active mpox outbreak in DRC, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda,” the Ministry of Health stated.
Further, the Ministry announced that no other case of Mpox has been recorded in the country.
Other response measures the Ministry of Health has continued to undertake include:
- The ministry has deployed a rapid response team to support the affected counties with detailed investigations.
- The ministry has also activated the Public Health Emergency Operation Centres across the country.
- Incident management teams have been established to coordinate response activities.
- The ministry is monitoring the evolution of the outbreak in our neighbouring countries to assess the risk of regional transmission and appropriately adjust our response measures.
- All counties have been advised to sensitize the public on the outbreak and the requisite preventive measures necessary to avoid contracting the disease and also the steps to take when they contract the disease including frequent hand washing with soap and water or hand sanitizer, seeking treatment early when infected and avoiding close contact with sick persons.
- The ministry has provided emergency hotline numbers for the public to report suspected cases and seek further information on the outbreak. The numbers are 719, 0729471414 and 0732353535.
“The ministry is working closely with the County Government authorities and all relevant partners to ensure all necessary interventions are put in place to protect citizens from the outbreak.”