NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 6— The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is deploying a high-level multidisciplinary team to Kenya following confirmation of the country’s first imported case of Bundibugyo Ebola Virus Disease, as the regional outbreak continues to test cross-border surveillance and response systems.

📻 Breaking It Down

The team is expected to work alongside Kenyan health authorities on the response after the patient, who had travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through Uganda, died in Nairobi on Monday night.

Africa CDC Director General Dr Jean Kaseya said the continental health agency had activated support for Kenya and would work with authorities to strengthen the response.

“I thank the Kenyan authorities for the rapid measures already put in place and reiterate Africa CDC’s full support,” Kaseya said.

📌 What You Need to Know

“I will personally travel to Kenya in the coming days to assess, together with the national authorities, the needs of the response and any additional support required.”

The deployment comes as Kenyan authorities intensify contact tracing following the confirmation of the imported case.

So far, 28 contacts, including family members and healthcare workers, have been identified, while authorities are tracing 23 passengers and crew members who travelled on the same flight as the patient from Uganda to Nairobi.

Africa CDC said the rapid identification, isolation and testing of the patient demonstrated the importance of maintaining surveillance and response capacity even after an outbreak appears to have been contained in a neighbouring country.

The patient had travelled by road from the DRC to Uganda, spent a night there and subsequently flew to Kenya.

Kaseya said the case was a reminder that Ebola response could not be confined to individual countries given the movement of people across the region.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya