Kenya on alert after importation of yellow fever

Kenya has stepped up surveillance and response measures after it registered two cases of yellow fever.

Despite being classified as a low-risk country for yellow fever infection, the East African country now has importation of cases from travellers.

According to the country’s health ministry, officials have began screening travellers who come from or transit through yellow fever-risk countries.

The first case was recorded earlier in the week in the country’s main public hospital. The patient who had travelled to Angola – a country currently battling the yellow fever outbreak- later died.

Scare as yellow fever kills first victim at Kenya_KNH #CofekHealthRights pic.twitter.com/eakg9bGiCL

— COFEK, Kenya (ConsumersKenya) March 16, 2016

The second case is also an imported case from Angola and is currently undergoing treatment. Health workers have been on high alert since.

There is currently no evidence of local transmission of the virus.

While Kenya lies in the yellow fever belt of Africa, the last outbreak occurred in 1992.

There is no cure for Yellow fever which is transmitted by the aedes aegypti mosquito and vaccination is highly recommended for preventing the disease. Symptoms include severe headache, nausea, vomiting and fatigue.

Meanwhile, the outbreak in Angola has already killed 158 people according to the latest figures from the World Health Organisation. Most of the deaths and cases have been reported in the country’s capital Luanda, where the outbreak began late last year.