NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 7— The Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) has called for an immediate nationwide review of Kenya’s Ebola preparedness, warning that the country’s first imported Bundibugyo Ebola case has exposed questions over border surveillance, health-worker protection and staffing capacity.

📻 Breaking It Down

The union wants the government to conduct and publish an assessment of Ebola preparedness across all 47 counties and major ports of entry, including staffing levels, personal protective equipment (PPE), isolation facilities, laboratory capacity and referral systems.

KUCO General Secretary and CEO George Gibore said the imported case should prompt an evidence-based assessment of whether existing preparedness measures can identify, isolate and safely manage suspected cases before they expose healthcare workers and the wider public.

The patient, a Kenyan who travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo through Uganda, arrived in Nairobi on October 3 and later died while receiving treatment.

📌 What You Need to Know

KUCO said the circumstances surrounding the case, including the patient’s cross-border travel, use of commercial air transport and passage through routine screening before hospital admission, raise questions about the effectiveness of surveillance and referral systems.

“Preparedness is not a press statement. Preparedness is staff, equipment, surveillance, protection and functioning health facilities,” Gibore said.

The union said frontline healthcare workers must have adequate PPE, training, infection-prevention systems, isolation facilities, staffing and clear referral protocols to safely respond to Ebola and other high-risk infectious diseases.

It also demanded a complete and consistent account from the Ministry of Health on the patient’s movements, screening, transportation, contacts and clinical management, arguing that accurate public communication is critical to maintaining confidence during an outbreak.

“Public confidence cannot be sustained through fragmented or unclear information,” KUCO said, warning that timely and accurate communication is itself a public-health intervention.

KUCO also linked Ebola preparedness to Kenya’s broader health workforce shortages, saying the country’s response capacity is being tested while Clinical Officers remain on industrial action in several counties.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya