Ebola: Receive them warmly, MoH urges Kenyans as it plans release of quarantined group
Dr Patrick Amoth, Health Director-General.
Kenya reckons that the end of the current Ebola outbreak may be within reach, with the Ministry of Health saying the country recorded no new cases as it prepares to release the first group of people from quarantine this weekend.
It announced that from Sunday October 25, the first contacts completing 21 days of quarantine will be released and reunited with their families.
"Their sacrifice has helped keep Kenya safe, and the nation is grateful to them and to those who stood by them," the ministry said, asking neighbours, workplaces and communities to receive them warmly.
It said they have passed the full monitoring period without falling ill and cannot pass the infection on to anybody.
Director-General for Health Dr Patrick Amoth said in a statement that every contact linked to Kenya's first case has been traced.
"Let us stand with our patients, contacts and health workers with compassion, not stigma. The end of this outbreak is within reach, and together we will get there," Dr Amoth said.
Kenya confirmed its first imported case of Ebola, caused by the Bundibugyo virus (BVD) strain, on October 6. The number of confirmed cases remains nine, including the index case, who died on October 5.
All 14 samples collected from alerts in different parts of the country in the previous 24 hours tested negative for the virus.
All the cases belong to a single cluster, with no evidence of community spread, the ministry said.
Eight patients, four family members and four health workers who cared for the first case are undergoing treatment in designated isolation facilities. Dr Amoth said they are stable and responding well to treatment.
Each patient was in close contact with the first case between October 3 and 5, before entering quarantine, and fell ill within the known incubation period of Ebola, which is 2 to 21 days.
That pattern, the ministry said, is consistent with infection from the first case. It also shows that no infection has been traced to transmission within quarantine facilities.
A total of 461 samples have been tested since the start of the outbreak.
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