Three residents of Kakamega have tested positive for Mpox, a viral disease previously known as monkey pox.
Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa said the County Government has confirmed the three hailed from Chekalini ward in Lugari sub-county.
Speaking to the media at the county headquarters, Governor Barasa said the three and their families have been placed in isolation to control the spread of the disease.
He urged residents to be calm and ensure they report symptoms associated with the disease such as fever, sore throat and rashes and adhere to public health guidelines.
“They will be in isolation for the next 21 days. The county government of Kakamega will be taking care of their wellbeing because they are not supposed to move anywhere, and that is why we decided we keep them indoors under the home-based care,” the governor noted.
He said that due to the reported cases, the county government has deployed rapid response units to identify other active cases, if any and carry out contact tracing.
“This is a contagious disease, so our teams are on the ground with some of our officers, whom we have given personal protective equipment, because agai,n we have to take care,” he noted.
The county government, he added, has also established a multi-agency team which is maintaining contacts with the sub-county teams to identify and act on any cases.
He said the multi-agency team sends updates to the Kakamega County Health Emergency Operation Centre and the Incident Management Command Centre domiciled at the county headquarters.
“I want to assure the public that we have up-scaled our surveillance and contact tracing across the county. We have also expanded isolation capacity at the Kakamega County General Hospital, the Lumakanda sub-county hospital in Lugari, and the Chekalini isolation Centre,” the governor added.
Barasa urged Community Health Promoters (CHPs) and religious leaders to carry out sensitisation on Mpox management and control as he cautioned residents against getting in contact with infected persons.
