by Christine Lagat
NAIROBI, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- The UN World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday it will partner with Kenya's ministry of health to contain Marburg virus along the border with Uganda through enhanced surveillance alongside timely diagnosis and treatment.
Senior officials from the UN health agency said that Kenyan counties that neighbor Uganda remain at risk of the highly infectious disease.
"We can save lives if sick people are identified early. Together with the ministry of health, we are actively looking for suspected cases and following up on their contacts," WHO Representative in Kenya, Rudi Eggers, said in a statement issued in Nairobi.
"WHO staff in both Uganda and Kenya are coordinating cross-border response activities including surveillance, contract tracing and active case search. This is key to breaking the chain of transmission and containing the outbreak," he added.
The health ministry has set up a rapid response team in Trans Nzoia and West Pokot counties that neighbor Uganda, where an outbreak was reported on Oct. 19.
So far, joint teams have been deployed to carry out risk assessment in the two northwestern Kenyan counties.
