Kenya’s cabinet secretary for health, Aden Duale, has unveiled measures taken by President William Ruto’s administration to curb the spread of the deadly Ebola virus.

He noted that screening of travellers from Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and eight other African nations had intensified after a confirmed case was reported.

He clarified that the country was not experiencing an Ebola virus outbreak following the case of an infected patient who travelled from DRC and died in Kenya on Tuesday.

Mr Duale said 10 of 57 identified individuals who made contact with the deceased patient had been quarantined while the search for the remaining 47 persons was underway.

According to a statement from the health ministry, Mr Duale did a media tour of a 133-bed capacity at the Ebola Isolation Unit at Nairobi Hospital, noting that the medical facility was equipped to take on such cases.

Mr Duale said the government ensured that five hospitals in strategic locations were prepped on how to contain the virus in the event of a medical emergency.

He named the facilities to include Kenyatta National Hospital, with eight beds and five intensive care beds; Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, with 50 beds; National Police Service Hospital, with 49 beds; Port Reitz Hospital, with four beds; and Nairobi Hospital, with 133 beds, including 45 high dependency and intensive care beds.

The health ministry also made mandatory checks at Gate 16 of the international airport to screen travellers arriving from selected countries such as the DRC, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Angola, Zambia, Rwanda, Burundi, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.

The ministry urged travellers to be truthful in their submissions on health declaration forms to ease surveillance and contact tracing in the event of a confirmed case. 

Kenyans were advised to call the toll-free health line 719 for enquiries.