Kenya Confirms Third Mpox Case Amid Enhanced Surveillance At Border Points

NAIROBI, Aug 31 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- Kenya's Ministry of Health on Friday announced the third mpox case, reiterating intensified surveillance at ports of entry to avert mass transmission of the highly infectious viral disease, reported Xinhua.

Patrick Amoth, director-general for health in the Ministry of Health, said the third case was detected from a 30-year-old woman in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, who has a history of travelling to neighbouring Uganda.

"She is in stable condition undergoing management in an isolation unit in Nairobi," Amoth said in a statement issued in Nairobi, adding that the patient travelled to Uganda last week.

Health personnel earlier this month detected two mpox cases in the coastal county of Taita Taveta which shares the border with Tanzania, and Busia County in western Kenya which shares the border with Uganda.

Amoth assured the public that active surveillance for suspected cases is ongoing countrywide to halt further transmission of the disease that manifests itself in skin rashes, fever, sore throat, headaches and swollen lymph nodes.

The disease, which is transmitted through human-to-human contact or from infected animals, is treated using antibiotics but can be fatal if it progresses to severe stages.

While the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains the epicentre of mpox transmission and fatalities, the disease has also spread to neighbouring central African countries and several cases have also been reported in Southern Africa.

In Kenya, Amoth disclosed that a total of 89 samples have been submitted to the laboratory for mpox virus testing, out of which 79 samples have tested negative for the disease, three samples have tested positive while the remaining seven are undergoing analysis.

According to Amoth, Kenya has so far screened 582,847 travellers at 26 designated ports of entry across the country, while 17 contacts remain under close observation.

He said the second patient diagnosed with mpox has fully recovered and has been subsequently discharged from the health facility. The official clarified that public health facilities countrywide are adequately prepared to diagnose and manage mpox, even as the government looks forward to procuring vaccines and therapeutics to help manage the disease.

Kenya declared the first case of mpox on July 31 and the second case on Aug 23, prompting health authorities to heighten vigilance at the ports of entry, given the disease's transboundary nature.

-- BERNAMA-XINHUA