Rwanda’s Ministry of Health on Wednesday said it is on alert after a second case of Ebola in neighboring Uganda ended in a fatality.
Rwanda and Uganda have porous borders with communities crossing without restrictions, according to local administrative officials.
The Director General for Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) Claude Mambo Muvunyi says there is no call for alarm because Rwanda has since 2018, built strong systems to counter Ebola outbreak and that their preparedness teams have been reactivated.
“We are closely monitoring these cases; we believe the Ugandan outbreak will be contained since it’s in one family. Also it’s a strain from South Sudan and not related to the one in DR Congo,” the senior Rwandan Health official said.
The teams that the government have reactivated are charged with monitoring Ebola cases, screening at borders and have been equipped with tools to identify and handle any suspected case on the Rwandan territory.
Besides putting teams in place, Muvunyi also said that there are lessons learnt from how Rwanda managed and contained the spread of coronavirus and among those include handwashing, social distancing and avoiding touching surfaces among others.
“We are well prepared. We have equipment to handle Ebola cases but we have also placed orders for more” Dr Muvunyi said.
CU/as/APA