Based on this new warning, Kenya’s Ministry of Health has reiterated that it has tightened its surveillance to avoid an outbreak.
The World Health Organisation has warned that the yellow fever outbreak in Angola poses a “threat to entire world”.
Nearly 2,000 people are thought to be suffering from yellow fever in the southern African nation, as health experts investigate the outbreak that began in December.
According to WHO, thousands of people are suspected to have been infected with the disease while 238 people have died from the mosquito-borne illness.
The outbreak has spread to nearly every province in the country.
Yellow fever is carried by the same variety of mosquito — Aedes aegypti — that also spreads dengue fever and the Zika virus, and the WHO now reports that the yellow fever outbreak in Angola could pose “a threat for the entire world.”
“The evolution of the situation in Angola is concerning and needs to be closely monitored,” it stated in a report.
People travelling from Angola have already exported the virus to China, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where at least 21 people are reported to have died.
However, the international health agency now says that Uganda, DRC and Angola have active yellow fever outbreaks.
The trend has sparked concerns by WHO, fearing the virus may spread further because of the large international communities living in Angola who regularly travel to neighbouring countries.
AVOID AN OUTBREAK
Based on this new warning, Kenya’s Ministry of Health has reiterated that it has tightened its surveillance to avoid an outbreak.
Last month, two patients tested positive for yellow fever, with one dying at Kenyatta National Hospital while being treated for the disease. Both patients had travelled to Angola.
The health ministry asked Kenyans to be on the lookout for any unusual symptoms of diseases and report cases to the nearest health facility.
It also issued a range of measures to curb the possible spread of the deadly virus.
“Travellers from Angola to Kenya must have valid yellow fever vaccination certificate and must have been vaccinated 10 days before travel,” Acting Director of Medical Services Jackson Kioko said.
On Monday, a Kenyan woman took to social media to document her 25-hour agony waiting for results of a yellow fever test upon her return from the neighbouring Uganda without the now all-important document.
Corrie Mwende, a Nairobi-based public relations practitioner, started tweeting two hours after she had arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Sunday at 10:30am aboard a RwandAir flight.
“I only wish that info would be disseminated clearly even when booking flights regarding yellow fever. Oh well. It is what it is,” she wrote.
To her reply, the ministry, through its Twitter handle said: “Kenya takes yellow fever concerns very seriously. Any Kenyan coming into the country from countries such as Uganda, DRC or Angola and has no valid yellow fever cert will be quarantined.”
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