Mpox
The Ministry of Health and the County Health Department of Taita Taveta have begun identifying all persons that had been in close contact with a Mpox patient.
Public Health and Professional Standards Principal Secretary (PS) Mary Muthoni Muriuki said that they are 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 far, no other case has been confirmed in the country,” assured Ms. Muriuki. The PS disclosed that Port Health Officers identified a truck driver with a generalized rash at Taveta One Stop Border Point on 22nd July 2024. He reported having symptoms for two weeks prior.
Muriuki said that the patient was isolated at Taveta Sub-County Hospital, where the clinicians suspected either chickenpox or Mpox and skin lesion samples were taken. Results from the National Public Health Laboratories detected Mpox on 29th July 2024.
“This was validated by other reference laboratories in the national laboratory network. The patient has recovered. However, due to the infectiousness of Mpox and as per international guidelines for Mpox response, we have begun identifying all persons that had been in close contact with,” said Ms. Muriuki.
The PS said that they are working with neighbouring countries to identify any contacts and any other potential cases explaining that there is an active Mpox outbreak in DRC, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda.
According to Muriuki, other response measures the Ministry of Health has continued to undertake include deploying a rapid response team to support the affected counties with detailed investigations, activating the Public Health Emergency Operation Centres across the country and establishing incident management teams 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,” said the PS.
She continued” “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 early treatment when infected and avoiding close contact with sick persons.”
The PS said that the Ministry has provided emergency hotline numbers for the public to report suspected cases and seek further information on the outbreak and they include 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,” assured Muriuki.