GREAT LAKES: IRIN-CEA Update 1,153

KENYA: Ebola alert issued

Kenya's Public Health Minister Sam Ongeri on Monday issued an Ebola alert
following the death of a female police recruit suspected to have died from
the disease at Kiganjo Police Training College in Nyeri, central province,
the 'East African Standard' newspaper reported. He said following the
death of the 24 year-old recruit, a team from the ministry and the Kenya
Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) had been dispatched to the district to
investigate and get epidemiological data on the case. Ongeri said that the
team had already put up a ward in Kiganjo to isolate any further suspected
cases.

He said the female recruit who hailed from Siaya district, western Kenya,
joined the college on 17 February, 2001 and had since remained there. He
said she fell ill on 31 March and developed symptoms of haemorrhagic fever
such as shivering, vomiting and weakness. She later started bleeding from
all open parts of her body and vomited blood. A source from WHO told IRIN
that case did not "fit in" with Ebola. "In this case, the victim was
admitted on 1 April, but died the following day bleeding profusely," he
said. "With haemorrhagic fever cases and in particular, Ebola cases, there
is usually the incubation period, clinical period and then the final stage
when there is bleeding," he explained.

Meanwhile, another Kiganjo police college recruit was admitted to Nyeri's
Mathari hospital suffering from similar symptoms. The Kenya Broadcasting
Corporation (KBC) television reported on Monday that the 19 year-old was
admitted to the hospital's isolation room.

Nairobi, 10 April 2001