New Mpox case confirmed in Kajiado, national total rises to 7

The Ministry of Health has reported another confirmed case of Mpox in Kajiado County, raising the national total to seven.

The cases are distributed across counties as follows; Taita Taveta (1), Busia (1), Nairobi (1), Mombasa (1), Nakuru (1), Makueni (1) and Kajiado (1).

"No deaths have been reported among the confirmed cases," Health Cabinet Secretary Dr. Deborah Barasa said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to the CS, once the first five patients were positively diagnosed, health officials identified and monitored 61 individuals who had come into close contact with them.

Out of these, 60 completed the recommended 21-day follow-up period while the remaining subject tested positive for Mpox after the spell.

"In the last 24 hours, 16,033 travellers have been screened at Points of Entry (POEs), contributing to a cumulative total of 1,002,621 travellers screened across the 26 POEs since the outbreak began," said the CS.

"The National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) has tested 190 samples from 28 counties, with seven testing positive, 178 negative, and five samples currently being tested."

The development comes just hours after the sixth official case of Mpox was reported in Makueni County.

"Contact tracing for the two newly confirmed cases is currently ongoing in the affected Counties," said CS Barasa.