WHO classifies Kenya as a high risk Ebola country

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday classified Kenya as a "high risk" country for the spread of the deadly Ebola virus from West Africa. WHO Director in Kenya, Custodia Mandlhate, said that the virus could reach East Africa through Nairobi airport, where over 70 flights from West Africa landed every week Mandlhate said that it was therefore crucial for Kenya to tighten surveillance on Ebola virus, adding that the Kenyan Government had decided not to cancel any flights. She said that Kenya’s neighbours, Uganda and Rwanda, had reported one suspected Ebola case each but disclosed that the persons involved tested negative. According to her, the number of reported Ebola cases in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria is 1 975, out of which 1 069 have died. The updated tally, she said, included 128 new cases and 56 deaths that were reported on Sunday and Monday, most of which were from Liberia and Sierra Leone. - NAN