Ebola-like Marburg Alert: Four people quarantined in Trans Nzoia

Four people have been quarantined in Trans-Nzoia County over a suspected outbreak of the highly infectious and deadly hemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola.

Reports indicate that the suspected patients are from neighbouring Uganda and arrived in Bwayi area of Kwanza Constituency on Sunday, October 29, seeking treatment for “a strange disease” from a local herbalist.

The World Health Organisation (WHO), which has issued an alert on the outbreak of the disease in Uganda, describes it as; “Marburg virus disease (MVD), formerly known as Marburg hemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans.”

The disease has Ebola-like symptoms.

County Director of Health Norbert Musundi says that an emergency committee has been formed to investigate the situation, adding that blood samples from the patients have been sent to KEMRI for screening.

“We got information about people from Uganda who visited Mama Frida Ajwang on Sunday night seeking treatment for an unknown disease. Our officers are keenly monitoring her and the people who visited,” said Musundi.

The herbalist and her husband have been put under incubation for 21 days, to make sure she was free of the virus.

“We are working with Kenya Revenue Authority officers, immigration officials in Uganda and our provincial administrators to ensure that we screen those coming in from entry points. We know traders from Uganda come to Kitale to buy goods,” he said.

However, Mama Ajwang denied ever attending to the particular patients before.

Two people have so far been reported dead of the disease in Kween District of Uganda.