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Emergency screening for Marburg virus has kicked off at the Kenya-Uganda border in Turkana after two people died died of the disease in Uganda.
The deaths occurred in Kween District in the Eastern side of Uganda that borders Kenya.
The two, a male hunter and his 50-year-old sister who died in September and October respectively, tested positive for Marburg virus, according to health officials in Uganda.
Turkana County Health and Sanitation Executive Jane Ajele said Sh9.5 million had been set aside for the emergency response that targets all people arriving at the border from Uganda.
“We have trained health officials to handle the situation, if any is reported... We have also raised surveillance along all possible entry points,” said Ms Ajele.
She added that movement in and out of Uganda was a major concern.
“Our pastoralists have been moving in and out of Uganda in search of pasture and water. We also have business people and travellers who come into the country from Uganda. This means the border at Lokiriama is very busy and that is why heavy surveillance is ongoing there,” she said.
Game hunter
A report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicated that “the first case-patient reported was a man in his 30s, who worked as a game hunter and lived near a cave with a heavy presence of bats.
On September 20, he was admitted to a local health centre with high fever, vomiting and diarrhoea, and did not respond to anti-malarial treatment.
“As his condition deteriorated, he was transferred to the referral hospital in the neighbouring district, where he died the same day. No samples were collected. He was given a traditional burial. The sister of the first case-patient nursed him and participated in the burial rituals. She became ill and was admitted to the same health centre on 5 October 2017 with fever and bleeding manifestations,” says WHO.
The report further stated she was transferred to the same referral hospital, where she died.
She was given a traditional burial and posthumous samples were collected and sent to the Uganda Virus Research Institute where the Marburg virus infection was confirmed.
The brother of the first two is said to have assisted in transporting his sister to the hospital and had subsequently became symptomatic.
“He refused to be admitted to hospital, and returned to the community. His whereabouts are currently not known though there is an ongoing effort to find him,” read the report in part.
The report states two health workers who were in contact with the confirmed case have developed symptoms consistent with the virus.
“Contact tracing and follow-up activities have been initiated. As of October 23, some 155 contacts including 66 who had contact with the first case and 89 who had contact with the second case-patient have been listed in the two affected districts, including 44 health-care workers,” the report shows.
The Turkana alert comes just a day after a suspected case of the virus in Trans Nzoia County.
Blood samples
On Tuesday, health officials took blood samples from a local herbalist for testing after he came into contact with a Ugandan patient who showed symptoms of the virus. The test, however, returned negative results.
Over 10 people have died from the viral since it was first reported in the western district of Kamwenge in Uganda in 2007.
The disease was first identified in 1967 in a laboratory in the city of Marburg, Central Germany, where workers had been exposed to infected African green monkeys.
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