Amoth announced that active surveillance for suspected cases is ongoing in the country to ensure the spread of the disease is controlled.
Kenya’s Ministry of Health has reported a third confirmed case of Mpox (monkeypox), one week after the second confirmed case being an adult male truck driver.
In a statement on Friday, August 30, Health Director-General Patrick Amoth revealed that the latest case was a woman with a travel history to Uganda. She has since been put in isolation in a unit in Nairobi.
“The Ministry would like to inform the public of a third laboratory-confirmed case of the disease in Nairobi. The patient is a 30-year-old female with a history of travel to Uganda one week ago. She is currently in stable condition undergoing management in an isolation unit in Nairobi,” Amoth updated.
“This brings the total number of confirmed Mpox cases in the country to three (3), with the earlier two cases detected in Taita Taveta and Busia counties.”
Dr Patrick Amoth, the Director General for Health, during a past press briefing. /THE STAR
With this raising more alarm bells regarding the disease in the country, Amoth announced that active surveillance for suspected cases is ongoing in the country to ensure the spread of the disease is controlled.
On a light note, the Health Ministry announced that last week’s confirmed Mpox case being the male truck driver has fully recovered and has been subsequently discharged from the facility.
“Seventeen (17) contacts remain under close observation and this positive outcome demonstrates our effective response and management of the disease,” added the statement.
Cumulatively, a total of eighty-nine (89) samples have been submitted to the Ministry’s laboratories for Mpox disease testing out of which, seventy-nine (79) samples have tested negative for the disease while three (3) samples have tested positive and the remaining seven (7) samples are currently undergoing analysis.
In addition, a total of 582,847 travellers have been screened at Kenya’s 26 designated Ports of Entry.
“We wish to reassure the public that our healthcare facilities are fully prepared to diagnose and manage this disease and there is no need to panic.
“To reduce stigma and prevent the spread of the disease, we shall continue to share important information through our official social media accounts, the press and other public health forums countrywide,” Amoth assured members of the public, affirming the government’s dedication to safeguarding the health and well-being of all citizens and continuous implementation of comprehensive response measures.Â
Kenya’s rapid response teams (RRTs), according to Amoth, are in place to support affected counties with thorough investigations and appropriate response measures to any new cases.
The Public Health Emergency Operation Centres have been activated nationwide to enhance coordination of response efforts, and Incident Management Teams have been established to oversee coordination activities at both national and county levels.
The country has been heightening its public health defences against the potentially deadly Mpox virus, which has spread throughout Africa and prompted countries to embark on promoting health measures and hygiene practices that would slow the spread of the Mpox virus.
In response to the outbreak sweeping across several countries, Nigeria became the first African country to receive 10,000 doses of Mpox vaccines on Tuesday. The vaccine, Jynneos, manufactured by Bavarian Nordic pharmaceutical firm, was donated by the United States (US) government.
The vaccines are set to be rolled out in five states with the highest burden of Mpox cases. They will be administered in a two-dose schedule to 5,000 people most at risk of Mpox, including close contacts of Mpox cases and frontline healthcare workers, with a provision for reactive vaccination in other states as the need arises.
Nigeria has confirmed 39 Mpox cases this year. However, 786 suspected cases have been reported with no deaths so far this year.
According to the World Health Organisation, 12 countries in the African region are reporting Mpox cases, and more than 15,000 suspected cases have been registered since the beginning of this year. Out of these, over 3,500 cases are laboratory-confirmed, including 26 deaths.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicentre of the outbreak, Burundi, and other East African nations are expecting vaccines, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The first batch of vaccine doses promised for the Democratic Republic of Congo could arrive on September 1 following delays due to documentation and emergency authorization issues, according to Jean Kaseya, the head of Africa CDC in a recent press briefing.
