The Ministry of Health has confirmed five new cases of Mpox virus in Kenya in three counties,
In a statement on Saturday, November 30, 2024, Health Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni revealed that two cases had been confirmed in Nakuru, two in Mombasa and one in Kiambu.
“In the last one week, our laboratories have confirmed five new cases reported from Nakuru (2), Mombasa (2), and Kiambu (1) Counties,” Muthoni stated.
This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 23.
“The cases are distributed as follows: Nakuru (6), Nairobi (2), Mombasa (4), Kajiado (2), Bungoma (2), Kiambu (1), Taita Taveta (1), Busia (1), Makueni (1), Kericho (1), Uasin-Gishu (1), and Kilifi (1).
Currently, four (4) individuals are under management, while sixteen (16) have fully recovered,” she added.
She says to date, 156 contacts have been identified, with 117 completing the required 21-day follow-up.
Five contacts have tested positive for Mpox, and 34 remain under active follow-up.
The government says a total of 2,023,819 travellers have been screened at various points of entry (POE), with 15,257 screened in the last 24 hours.
“The National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) has received 310 samples for testing: 21 have tested positive, 284 have returned negative results and five (5) are pending,” Muthoni stated.
Two of the newly confirmed cases are children below five years.
“We thus wish to highlight the importance to adherence to Mpox preventive measures among suspected cases, confirmed Mpox cases, and the general public,” she says.
Mpox preventive measures
Among the preventive measures proposed by the government include avoiding close contact with suspected or confirmed Mpox cases or their belongings, avoiding sharing or handling of materials such as clothes and personal items of suspected or confirmed cases with bare hands, limiting sexual partners, and maintaining good hygiene through regular hand washing or using hands sanitiser.
“We would like to emphasize that children are among the high-risk group because their immune system is not fully developed to fight infections. The Ministry therefore underscores the importance of self-isolation among suspected or confirmed cases to avoid passing the infection to children in our households as they are at risk of severe disease if they get infected,” she stated.
“The Ministry continues to enhance its surveillance systems and we call on all Kenyans to remain vigilant, seek prompt medical attention and report any suspected symptoms to the nearest health facility for prompt medical attention.”
