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NAIROBI, KENYA: The Ministry of Health has released a contingency plan that will guide health institutions in the country on what to do if the dreaded Ebola Viral Disease (EVD) hits Kenya.
The contingency plan is meant to serve as a guide to EVD prevention, preparedness and response for the country after the disease broke out in West Africa a region closely linked to Kenya through frequent flights.
The contingency plan will see the creation of a central reference Ebola outbreak preparedness and response information depository, it will facilitate risk communication by providing accurate information to health workers and the community, provide guidance on key actions to be taken during the different phases of the outbreak preparedness and response, prepare clinicians for appropriate EVD case management and identify and mobilize resources for response.
As part of the contingency plan the Ministry of Health has constituted a national EVD taskforce that will evaluate the evolving risk and advise the government on appropriate measures for preparedness, prevention and response.
The taskforce has members from the Ministry of Health, the Kenya Police Service, Kenya Airports Authority, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and other international health bodies operating in the country such as the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO), and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) among others.
The implementation of the contingency plan will involve training health care workers on handling of suspected EVD cases, handling of infectious material, infection prevention and control and case management.
A public awareness campaign will also be launched to sensitise the public through forums in barazas, outreach programs, the media, churches, in mosques and schools. Counties will also be involved in consultations on how to go about the implementation of the plan.
The contingency plan dictates that surveillance be heightened at points of entry, health facilities and in the community.
According to the plan, the current EVD case definition though it might change as surveillance information available changes is: any person with fever of acute onset, one or more of the following symptoms: vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, headache, sore throat, measles like rash, red eyes and bleeding from body openings.
The other issue to be considered is the history of travel to West Africa or contact with somebody who has been in or visited West Africa within the last three weeks.
Case management for EVD will involve isolation of a patient with EVD, setting up of isolation units for the patients, limiting the number of medical and support personnel visiting or seeing the patient and creating adjacent rooms for medical personnel to change clothes which will be required once one leaves the isolation room among others.
The contingency plan comes in the wake of Kenya banning flights to and from West African countries affected or at risk of Ebola. According to news reports, travellers from West African countries are getting into Kenya through the Malaba and Busia borders.
The alleged flow of travellers from the West African countries into Kenya is one of the risk factors for an EVD outbreak in the country according to the contingency plan. Other risk factors include contact with people who have been to Liberia, Guinean Sierra Leon and Nigeria, health workers identified to assist in response activities in West Africa and a health workforce that does not have the capacity to detect, notify and manage EVD cases among others.
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