• Female patient came from Uganda, was in contact with her husband and two other people.
• She is in an isolation ward in Kericho, others have been quarantined.
Image: REUTERS/Baz Ratner
The results of a suspected Ebola case in Kericho are expected to be out Monday.
Kericho Health CEC Shadrack Mutai said the female patient has already been isolated, tests were being done and samples sent to the Kenya Medical Research Institue for analysis.
"We are waiting for the test results to confirm or rule out Ebola. We shall be able to communicate by close of business today (Monday)," Mutai told the press.
Mutai said the fact that the patient is stable gives them hope that the disease may not be Ebola.
She reportedly came from Uganda and Mutai said she is known to have been in contact with three people, including her husband. Apart from fixed entry points, the border is porous.
On Sunday evening, the woman with Ebola-like symptoms was admitted at the Kericho County Referral Hospital. She has been described as having a kind of hemorrhagic fever.
As a result of the suspected case, and two earlier cases in Uganda, Kenya is on high alert.
The County Disease Surveillance Team immediately took necessary precautions to ensure staff had protective gear and there was no contact between the patient and others, including the staff, patients and others.
The past few weeks have seen health officials in Busia and Malaba border towns on extra alert following the Ebola outbreak in neighbouring Uganda. Two brothers died from DR Congo died there and two others in the family were set back to the DRC.
In Congo, at least 2,000 cases have been reported and more than 1,400 people have died.
At the Busia Kenya Port Health Desk, all arriving travellers including truck drivers undergo Ebola screening.
Chief officer for Health and Sanitation Dr Isaac Omeri said a surveillance team is assessing the border situation and will make recommendations.
He said there is an isolation ward at the Busia County Referral Hospital and at Malaba Dispensary where any suspected Ebola cases are quarantined, awaiting medication.
Mutai said the situation is contained and under control.
"We are allaying public fears that this is Ebola," he said adding that the disease could be another condition.
Mutai said if the disease is Ebola, they will immediately request all those s who might have been in contact with the patient to get to the nearest facility, preferably a government facility.
There are three people, including her husband, all of them quarantined until we have tests from Kemri.Kericho Health CEC Shadrack Mutai
"They should report that they have come in contact with the patient. The necessary measures, testing, isolation and management will be taken," he said.
Mutai said contacts with such patients should be avoided or minimised as the disease is highly contagious.
Scientists believe that people are initially infected with Ebola virus through contact with an infected animal, such as a fruit bat or nonhuman primate.
This is called a spillover event.
After that, the virus spreads from person to person, potentially affecting a large number of people.
The virus spreads through direct contact (such as through broken skin or mucous membranes in the eyes, nose, or mouth.
It is spread through blood or body fluids (urine, saliva, sweat, faeces, vomit, breast milk, and semen) of a person who is sick with or has died from Ebola.
Others are objects (such as needles and syringes) contaminated with body fluids from a sick person.
When someone gets infected with Ebola, they will not show signs or symptoms of illness right away.
Mutai said proper hand washing must be done.
"They can get access to gloves, we recommend that double gloving, putting on masks and reducing conduct as much as possible."