By Amos Ssemuwemba
Kenya’s Ministry of Health has deployed healthcare workers to Taita-Taveta County following the detection of an mpox case there this week.
Authorities reported that the individual who tested positive for the virus had traveled through the county near the Kenyan-Tanzanian border. Mary Muthoni, the Health Ministry’s principal secretary, stated that health officials were sent to the area to prevent the virus from spreading further.
“We are carrying out contact tracing and enhancing our surveillance efforts. The fact that our teams identified this case demonstrates how much we’ve improved monitoring at the border,” Muthoni said. “Our port health officers across all 32 entry points are well-trained and capable of detecting any potential outbreaks at the border.”
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is found in forested regions of East, Central, and West Africa. Symptoms include high fever, skin rash, headache, swollen lymph nodes, and general body aches. The virus spreads through direct contact with an infected person or via respiratory droplets.
According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 1,450 people have died from mpox in 15 African countries since the beginning of 2022. In the past seven months, 14,250 mpox cases and 456 deaths have been recorded.
Haji Mohamed Mwakio, a resident of Taita-Taveta County, expressed concern for himself and his community, noting the lack of visible measures advising people on how to stay healthy.
Taita-Taveta County, home to more than 340,000 people, is under close monitoring as health officials follow up on the patient and those they have been in contact with.
“We have isolated the patient after testing,” Muthoni said. “We are still determining how many people he interacted with, so we have sent health teams to Taita-Taveta to respond to the situation.”
Health officials are worried about the possibility of the virus spreading across multiple countries. This week, Burundi, the Central African Republic, and Rwanda reported their first cases of mpox, according to the Associated Press.
Mwakio stressed the importance of countries working together to control the virus, especially by taking precautions at border points. He also urged governments to educate communities on the situation and how to protect themselves.
On Sunday, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations announced plans to offer an mpox vaccine to those exposed to the virus to assess whether it can prevent the disease.