Kenyan doctors’ union urges protection for health workers after first Ebola death

Kenya’s medical professionals’ union has urged the government to strengthen protections for health workers after the country reported its first Ebola case and the death of an infected Kenyan national.

Health Minister Aden Duale announced that the 40-year-old businessman had died on Monday evening. The man contracted Ebola while living in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he was treated after becoming ill about a month before the report.

According to information provided by Duale, the patient travelled overland to Kampala before flying to Nairobi on October 3. Kenya had not previously reported an Ebola case.

Union calls for support and preparedness

The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union called on the government to protect healthcare workers involved in the response. The union also requested rigorous contact tracing and adequate preparedness at health facilities.

Dr. Divji Atellah, the union’s secretary-general, said healthcare workers should be treated as a priority in the country’s protection measures.

“Our health workers must not be the weakest link in our response. They must be of first line of protection,” Atellah said.

He called for “urgency, transparency and responsibility” from the government and said professionals who had come into contact with the patient should receive “immediate monitoring, psychological support and appropriate follow-up.”

Contacts and flight tracing

Kenyan authorities have identified 28 contacts of the deceased, including relatives and healthcare workers. None had tested positive at the time covered by the report.

Authorities were also pursuing 23 passengers and four crew members who travelled on the same flight as the patient. They said preparations had been made for the possible quarantine of people considered at risk.

The developments have placed attention on Kenya’s readiness to contain the virus and support workers who may have been exposed during treatment and contact tracing.

Regional and international context

Neighbouring Uganda recorded 20 Ebola cases and two deaths before being declared Ebola-free in August. The source report said almost all of those cases involved people who had travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Figures from the World Health Organization showed that, as of October 2, there had been 8,463 cases and 4,082 deaths since the Bundibugyo strain emerged in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The strain had no vaccine or specific treatment at the time described in the report.