Kenya on high alert as Ebola outbreak in DR Congo fuels border fears

Travelers washed their hands and had their temperatures checked at Kenya’s border with Uganda on Thursday as residents voiced concerns about Ebola after the country confirmed its second case linked to an outbreak in Congo.

At the Busia crossing, where trucks and traders move between the two countries, motorcycle taxi rider David Makhoha called for thorough screening, saying he feared carrying infected passengers. "The government needs to be keen so that those people are screened adequately when getting into the country,” he said.

Richard Onyango, a trader, questioned whether checks at the official crossing would be sufficient given the informal routes into Kenya."I’m asking the government to find other ways to screen because there are too many illegal routes to get into Kenya from Uganda,” he said.

Kenya’s Health Ministry said Wednesday that a 39-year-old man, a close relative of the country’s first Ebola patient, had tested positive after developing symptoms while in quarantine.The ministry said the cases were linked and there was "no evidence of spread in the community.”

The first patient, a 40-year-old Kenyan who had been living in Congo, fell ill there before traveling by road to Uganda and flying to Nairobi. He tested positive and died Oct. 5.Kenya's ministry said Wednesday that officials had identified about 128 contacts linked to the first patient and placed 108 in quarantine.

Kenya has tightened screening at border crossings and airports since detecting its first case. The first patient’s journey through three countries raised questions about border surveillance. Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya told The Associated Press last week: "We need to ensure that at point of entry, we have a strong surveillance system in place.”

Uganda had previously declared its outbreak over, after reporting 20 cases linked to infections originating from Congo. Ugandan authorities said identified contacts completed quarantine without evidence of further transmission. Earlier in the outbreak, Uganda ordered the closure of its border with Congo, with exceptions that included humanitarian and cargo movements.

The World Health Organization opposed border closures, warning that they could divert people and goods toward unmonitored informal crossings and increase the risk of disease spreading. In Congo, the Health Ministry reported 9,066 confirmed cases and 4,381 deaths in figures released Tuesday.

The outbreak has spread across seven provinces, with containment efforts hampered by fighting, population movements and shortages of medical supplies and treatment centers. Contact tracing has been a major challenge.

Kaseya told AP last week that more than 70% of new cases in Congo involved people who had not been identified as contacts of infected patients, complicating efforts to identify and isolate infected people. The outbreak involves the rare Bundibugyo virus, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment. Ebola spreads through contact with infected bodily fluids and contaminated materials, including bedding and clothing.