Kenya Designated as Focused Quarantine Management Area for Ebola... "Arrivals Must Report Health Status"

Quarantine screening network activated at ports of entry, airports and seaports
Overall risk level remains "low"

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Oct. 19 that it will designate Kenya as a focused quarantine management area starting Oct. 20, as the total number of confirmed cases has risen following the country’s first imported case of Ebola virus disease and additional cases among family members and medical staff who had been quarantined.

According to Kenya’s Ministry of Health, the first patient was a Kenyan national who had lived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for seven years. After developing symptoms a month earlier and receiving treatment at multiple medical institutions, the patient traveled overland through Uganda and arrived at Nairobi International Airport in Kenya, where the patient tested positive on Oct. 5.

The seven additional cases confirmed after the first patient tested positive were all close contacts of the first patient and were identified while in quarantine. Kenya’s Ministry of Health said it had completed quarantine for 128 (98.5%) of the 130 identified contacts, that all additional cases were epidemiologically linked to the first imported case, and that there is currently no evidence suggesting widespread community transmission.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said, “Based on a risk assessment reflecting the cases reported in Kenya, the possibility of Ebola virus disease being imported into Korea exists. However, because the disease is transmitted through direct contact with a patient’s blood or bodily fluids and is typically spread in a limited manner among close contacts, such as medical staff and family members, the likelihood of exposure among the general public is low.” It added, “We are maintaining the overall domestic risk level at ‘low,’ unchanged from before.”

It added, “We are designating Kenya as a focused quarantine management area, taking into account the ongoing possibility of further transmission within Kenya and importation into Korea due to travel on international flights and visits to medical institutions, as well as the confirmation of secondary infections linked to an imported case.”

This case involves imported and linked cases with confirmed epidemiological connections. Since all additional cases were identified while in quarantine and there are no signs of community transmission outside the quarantine system, and since the scale and pattern of transmission differ from those in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where a large-scale outbreak is ongoing, quarantine measures will be implemented in stages in proportion to the level of risk.

Starting Oct. 20, travelers arriving after having stayed in or transited through Kenya within the previous 21 days must report their health status through Q-CODE (or a health status questionnaire). Text messages will be sent advising people of the risk of Ebola virus disease infection when departing for Kenya or staying there. After arrival, travelers will also receive text messages advising them to report any suspected symptoms, such as fever or abdominal pain, immediately to 1339 or a public health center. A community surveillance network will be activated to enable medical staff to check patients’ overseas travel history (DUR-ITS) when they seek treatment at medical institutions during the incubation period.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.