Kenya steps up Ebola surveillance

NAIROBI, KENYA: A specialised unit at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) is handling several suspected Ebola cases even as the country's preparedness for a possible outbreak of the disease comes into sharp focus.

The patients have been placed under quarantine at the former Nairobi Hospice facility within KNH.

The Government has screened and quarantined 24 suspected Ebola victims in the country since August.

The Head of the Disease Surveillance and Response Unit (DSRU) at the Ministry of Health Dr Ian Njeru says the suspected victims were mainly from Ebola hotspots of Liberia, Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

One of the suspected victims was also screened for the deadly Marburg disease since he came from Uganda where there was an outbreak of the disease recently.

"Most of them were released after 72 hours, but others are still under quarantine at the facility," Njeru revealed.

It has also emerged that 10 of the suspected patients were already in the country when they were identified.

Njeru says three of them were identified at the Nairobi Hospital, two at Mater Hospital, one at MP Shah Hospital and four at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.

PAY DISPUTES

Dr Victor Ng'ani, the chairman of Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) revealed morale among health workers was at an all time low following pay disputes and poor working conditions.

Recently, nurses and paramedics in Mombasa County downed their tools for over three weeks, paralysing operations at most health facilities over a pay dispute.

KMPDU has been demanding that the healthcare reverts to the national government due to the management challenges the fledgling devolved units are facing.

Wednesday, Ng'ani said few doctors and nurses would be willing to put their lives on the line to treat Ebola patients.

"The feeling on the ground is that the medical sector has been neglected. The doctors and nurses feel they have not been taken care of sufficiently and would be unwilling to risk their lives to take care of such patients," he said.

He said such apathy among medical professionals could prove disastrous in the event of an Ebola outbreak in the country.

"If doctors and nurses decided not to offer care, that would have far-reaching consequences," he says.

Ebola is a highly virulent disease that not only kills its victims within days if left untreated, but also threatens the lives of caregivers.

Three caregivers in the West African countries where the disease has been ravaging populations have since been killed by the virus after being exposed.

A nurse in Texas in the United States, who took care of a Liberian Ebola victim, is also fighting for her life after contracting the virus.

A similar fate befell a Spanish nurse who took care of infected missionaries and a United Nations health worker who was volunteering in Liberia. She died in Germany this week after being infected with the virus.

"With such high risk and amidst this lack of motivation, it is unlikely healthcare workers would be willing to get involved," Ng'ani says.

It also emerged that apart from the facility at KNH, there are no other isolation centres in the country.

"We need at least one such centre in every major town and at border points," says a source at the Ministry of Health who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

It also emerged that the country has trained only 100 professionals to handle Ebola.

"The ideal situation is that we need to train at least half of the entire health fraternity to be able to deal effectively with an outbreak," the source says.

However, Njeru says, there should be no cause for alarm as the country has an efficient testing system for the Ebola virus.

"It would take just under six hours to return either positive or negative results. Our testing facilities both at the Kenya Medical Research Institute and Centre for Disease Control are very efficient and are 99 per cent accurate," he said.

He says the surveillance team has set up a screening desk at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to profile all incoming passengers.

"Our main targets have been travellers from Ebola and Marburg hit areas," explains Njeru. He says those who answer yes to even one question on the questionnaire are referred to the testing desk where their temperatures are taken.