Kenyan hospital units on standby as part of Ebola emergency preparedness plan

Kenya says it is strengthening its preparedness against Ebola, even though no cases have yet been recorded in the country.

As the outbreak of the deadly haemorrhagic virus continues to spread in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, it is not taking any chances.

At Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, the country’s largest referral facility, medical staff have been trained to detect and manage potential Ebola cases.

“We have sensitised the staff on how to recognise a patient who has Ebola and how to respond in a manner that is safe to themselves and also to the other patients,” said infectious disease specialist, Dr Duncan Nyukuri.

Hospital officials say isolation units are on standby, with dedicated staff and procedures in place to prevent any possible transmission within health facilities.

Kenyatta National Hospital says it has a limited capacity of eight isolation rooms for potential Ebola patients, as part of its emergency preparedness plan.

“Kenyatta is the only one that has a fully-fledged, separate infectious disease isolation unit that is stand-alone,” said Nyukuri.

“I know other public facilities, depending on need, they can activate spaces within the facility that they can use to isolate such patients and that is what is happening.”

Authorities in Kenya have also taken precautionary measures at border entry points, including plans for quarantine procedures for travellers arriving from affected regions.

It is already preparing to quarantine Americans arriving from the DRC at one of its air bases, a move which has led to violent protests resulting in the death of one person.

As of Friday, the DR Congo had reported 676 confirmed cases and 136 deaths in an outbreak that has ⁠also spread ​to neighbouring Uganda, which has reported 19 cases.