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Patient went to a private hospital in Kericho on Sunday with fever, headache, sore throat, joint pains, puffy face & vomiting. She tested negative for malaria. ‘Out of caution’ she was referred to the County Hosp. & tested for #Ebola
Hospital officials tell me they made the decision because the patient had recently travelled from Malaba, at the Kenya-Ugandan border. Important to note there’s no known case of #Ebola in Malaba or anywhere in Eastern Uganda.
The outbreak of #Ebola in South-Western Uganda is so far being controlled. There’s no confirmed case currently in Uganda. 98 contacts are being monitored. Uganda has kept border with DRC open.
I witnessed the border surveillance at Mpondwe on Friday. Everyone crossing from the DRC into Uganda washes hands in chlorinated water and has temperature checked. Hundreds were crossing the border mainly for business. 
But not everyone uses official crossing points like this one. Borders are porous and people cross all the time. The family that was affected by Ebola had used an unofficial crossing point. But the infected family members were quickly detected here at Kagando Mission Hosp.
They’d gone there because their 5-year-old was I’ll. Health workers quickly and correctly noted the symptoms of Ebola. They referred the case to Bwera hospital where an Ebola Treatment Unit had been set up. That’s how to deal with Ebola.
The announcement was made by the Health Minister in Kampala once test results were out confirming Ebola Virus Disease. An outbreak was then declared. This is how you handle the announcement of an outbreak.
Back in Kenya, I’m informed that the patient later developed diarrhea. But her condition is now improving. The announcement has cause unnecessary panic in Kericho. Some patients have fled from hospital. If it break out, Ebola can be contained fairly easily.
It’s important to first understand how it’s spread. Ebola is transmitted through infected bodily fluids - blood, urine, feaces. The virus has to enter the body though an opening such as a cut, mouth, nose, eyes etc.
One ought to maintain basic hygiene (hand-washing) and avoid contact with patients to prevent #Ebola infection. That’s why people are advised to stop shaking hands during outbreaks - it’s the single most unhygienic human habit.
It’s possible to be in the same location with an Ebola patient and not get infected. It is NOT airborne. The infected fluids have to get into the body of an I infected person for transmission to occur.
If I were in Kericho today, I’d go to work, the market, school, hospital - anywhere I’d need to be without fear.
It’s been difficult to control the outbreak in the DRC because it’s happened in an active conflict zone, where literacy levels are low and health system broken. Here’s our story from our trip there in January: bbc.com/news/av/world-…
None of those conditions apply to Kenya. Like Uganda has shown, with the right information and preparation, an outbreak of Ebola need not be disruptive. It can be contained. Speed of action is of essence. Anticipate it and act if it comes.
