There is a famous saying that goes When America coughs, Britain gets a cold.
The same can be said about Kenya and the neighbouring countries.
The confirmation of Kenya’s first Ebola virus case has the entire region on tenterhooks and literally sneezing, including Somalia, whose gateway to the East African Community is Nairobi.
The Federal Government of Somalia also swung into action, strengthening surveillance and emergency preparedness for the virus after Kenya reported its first case.
Mogadishu already had elaborate measures on how to deal with Ebola, which have been in place since the beginning of the year when the virus was virulent in the region, particularly in DR Congo and Uganda.
However, the country’s health ministry said Somalia was monitoring the regional situation, and the movement of people across East African borders had prompted it to strengthen preparedness and ensure suspected cases can be detected and investigated quickly.
The ministry said Somalia was reviewing its laboratory capacity, specimen collection and testing arrangements, infection prevention and control measures, isolation and case management facilities, as well as the availability of protective gear.
The ministry asked its citizens to remain calm but vigilant, maintain good hand hygiene and avoid direct contact with the blood of bodily fluids of people who are sick.
Uganda, where the latest case emanated from, has distanced itself, with the country’s government spokesman asking Kenya to take responsibility for letting the patient slip through its surveillance system.
However, the Puntland regional state is not taking any chances with the virus, which has so far no cure and spreads through contact and exchange of body fluids.
The state has immediately swung into a code red zone by heightening its response measures by stepping up preparedness, early detection and rapid response mechanisms to mitigate potential risks of the virus finding its way to Somalia.
The state’s health ministry stated that it was monitoring the situation in the region following Kenya’s case, which was imported from DR Congo through Uganda.
The ministry noted it was coordinating with government agencies and international health partners to strengthen local capacity for disease prevention and emergency management.
Health officials asked members of the public, especially those returning from affected areas, to immediately seek medical attention at the nearest health facilities if they experience symptoms related to Ebola, which include high fever, severe fatigue, headache, muscle pain, diarrhoea or unusual bleeding.
The alert in the region, following Kenya’s first imported case, has spurred the regional World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to also swing into action to stem the spread of the Bundibugyo virus.
Africa CDC called for enhanced regional preparedness to deal with the virus while it dispatched a high-level multi-disciplinary team to support Kenya.
The African Union’s specialised continental public health agency said its Director-General Dr Jean Kaseya, would lead the team to Nairobi.
Africa CDC called on member states to strengthen their surveillance and cross-border information sharing, ensure laboratory readiness, reinforce rapid response teams and maintain strong infection prevention and control measures.
On its part, the WHO said it was working closely with Kenya to intensify control measures after the case at the Nairobi hospital over the weekend.
The body further said Kenya’s ministry of health was strengthening response coordination and case investigation while monitoring and listing contacts for enhanced disease surveillance.
Through its regional director, the WHO said screening at high-risk points, clear risk communication and community engagement are at the core of the response.
The director noted that Kenya had put in place important outbreak control measures and that the priority now is to move swiftly to detect any further cases before the virus has an opportunity to spread.
The World Health Organisation noted that Kenya was best equipped to handle Ebola cases as it had already received Ebola simulation exercises and training of a national pool of rapid response trainers while isolation units across 27 high-risk counties have been identified and assessed, case managers trained and Ebola surveillance tools updated.
WHO, however, said it advises against any restriction of travel to, or trade with, the DR Congo, Uganda or Kenya based on the currently available information.
As the region comes to terms with the first Ebola virus case in Kenya, every nation must be upscaling its surveillance measures to ensure that the 28 identified contacts, including family members, health workers, the 23 passengers on the Jambo jet flight plus the four crew members who travelled with the deceased patient, are closely monitored.
Meanwhile, the last three Pakistani survivors of the Palau-flagged oil tanker, MT Honour 25, which was seized on April 21, have left to be reunited with their families this week.
The three are among a crew of 17 which had been held hostage on the vessel before Puntland forces allegedly took charge last week.
Earlier, four injured Pakistani survivors and the remains of their three compatriots had been repatriated to Karachi.
Also on the way home are four Indonesians who were on the same oil tanker that had been held hostage for five months.
Before the subduing of the Somali pirates who had taken charge of the oil tanker, five crew members had already been killed-three Pakistani, an Indian and a Myanmar national.
Will the Somali pirates stop their adventure in hijacking vessels in the waters off the coast of Garowe after the arrest of 16 of their colleagues?
