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Kenya intensifies surveillance after outbreak of dengue fever

Xinhua, May 8, 2017 Adjust font size:

Kenya's health authorities said on Monday they have intensified surveillance in the coastal city of Mombasa after an outbreak of dengue fever was reported.

Sultani Matendechero, head of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Program at the Ministry of Health, said the ministry has already dispatched a response team of experts from Nairobi to Mombasa to curb the outbreak of the mosquito-borne tropical disease.

"We have sent a team armed with test kits to help tame the spread of the disease to other neighboring counties," Matendechero told Xinhua by telephone.

Khadija Shikely, county director of health in Mombasa, said the disease has been reported in Kisauni, Jomvu, Changamwe, Nyali, Mvita and Likoni sub-counties.

The cases were confirmed by rapid diagnostic test kits at both private and public health facilities.

"We have diagnosed 150 patients with the mosquito-borne tropical disease in several health facilities," Shikely said in Mombasa on Sunday.

She urged the public to report suspected cases immediately.

"This is to notify you that there is dengue fever outbreak in Mombasa County and we therefore need to respond effectively and in a coordinated approach to contain the outbreak," said Shikely.

"Dengue fever has no treatment or vaccination but can be controlled by spraying stagnant water and clearing bushes around homes," Shikely said.

Dengue fever was first detected in Mombasa in 2013 by a team of researchers from Kenya Medical Research Institute. It was again spotted in the region in 2014 where it killed three people. Endit