• Health ministry says active surveillance mechanisms and action plan towards disease outbreak are underway.
• Zika infection during pregnancy can cause serious birth defects, characterised by incomplete brain development and an unusually small head.
Image: MAGDALINE SAYA
The Health ministry has dismissed claims that scientists have found the deadly Zika virus in West Pokot.
Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki on Friday said there was "no single case of the virus has been confirmed or identified in Kenya".
Zika virus is a mosquito-borne virus that was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in monkeys.
It was later identified in humans in 1952 in Uganda and Tanzania. It is contract through infected Aedes mosquito bites.
The virus causes fever, rash, red eyes, muscle and joint pains, and tiredness, with symptoms that last between two to seven days.
The CS said the study in question was carried out between February 2016 and August 2017 on health populations in West Pokot and Turkana counties to determine the level of past exposure to a select group of reemerging mosquito borne virus of public health concern such as yellow fever, dengue and Zika virus.
“This study was a proactive approach in public health surveillance and enhanced preparedness in response to threats posed by these viruses,” Kariuki said.
The study locations were selected because they share borders with areas that had recorded previous outbreaks.
The areas border Uganda, South Sudan and/or Ethiopia, where recent outbreaks of yellow fever and dengue have been reported, with the possibility of spillover into Kenya.
“The scientists were not able to determine the active ongoing circulation of Zika virus in the population, but 34 were found to have had a past exposure to Zika virus,” she said.
The CS reiterated that the ministry has put in place active surveillance mechanisms and actions towards disease outbreak plans are underway.
The deadly Zika virus, almost marred the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.
Zika infection during pregnancy can cause serious birth defects.
The virus is suspected to cause Microcephaly, a birth defect characterised by incomplete brain development and an unusually small head.
Microcephaly is a life-long condition with no cure or standard of treatment and is linked with conditions such as seizures, developmental delays and intellectual problems.
Preventing mosquito bites protects one from Zika virus, and from other diseases transmitted by mosquitoes such as dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.
One could use insect repellent, wearing adequately covering clothes that cover as much of the body as possible.
There is also evidence that it can be spread through blood transfusion and sexual contact.
There has also been a report of a man passing it to his young child through his tears and/or sweat.
There is no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat Zika.