Nairobi, Oct 26 (SocialNews.XYZ) The first 20 Ebola contacts were released from quarantine and returned home after completing health surveillance without developing symptoms, an official with Kenya's Ministry of Health said on Monday.
Patrick Amoth, director-general for health in the ministry, confirmed in a statement that the 20 contacts had completed the mandatory 21-day monitoring period and were in good health.
Amoth said each of the 20 contacts had been thoroughly evaluated against strict discharge criteria.
"They do not pose any risk to their families, colleagues or neighbours, and we ask communities to welcome them back home warmly," he said.
Amoth added that the remaining 98 contacts were scheduled to be discharged in four phases beginning November 3, subject to individual health assessments, Xinhua News Agency reported.
This is a clear sign that early identification, quarantine and close monitoring are working, he added.
Amoth noted that the total number of confirmed cases remained at nine, including two deaths, giving Kenya a case fatality rate of 22.2 per cent. Meanwhile, the remaining seven patients were stable and continued to receive care from a multidisciplinary team of medical experts.
Kenya confirmed its first imported case of Ebola on October 6 and immediately implemented measures to curb further transmission.
Genomic sequencing of three of the nine positive samples showed a direct genetic link to the initial case and to the Bundibugyo virus lineage originating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to Amoth.
Strict surveillance and screening protocols remained in place at all entry points, health facilities and community levels, with every reported alert investigated promptly, he added.
Kenya has conducted extensive contact tracing among potentially exposed individuals since the first Ebola case was confirmed.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has recorded nearly 10,000 confirmed Ebola cases since the outbreak began in May, as deadly attacks on health workers pose further challenges to efforts to contain the epidemic, according to health authorities and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The latest report released Monday by the country's health authorities said that the cumulative number of confirmed cases had reached 9,964, including 4,841 deaths, as of Saturday, with a case fatality rate of 48.6 per cent. The outbreak has affected 66 health zones across eight of the country's 26 provinces.
The figures came as WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also condemned an attack that killed a nurse in the northeastern Tshopo Province on Saturday.
–IANS
ksk/
Source: IANS
About Gopi
Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.
He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.
When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any.
He can be reached at gopi@socialnews.xyz