Two member-states of the East African Community, Kenya and Uganda have confirmed cases of influenza A, H1N1 virus popularly known as swine flu. Quoting Ugandan media, the first case of the deadly disease was diagnosed on Wednesday while Kenyan reports show that the country was hit by the flu on Monday. “An unnamed British national (40) was screened for the virus at Entebbe Airport before being rushed to Uganda Virus Research Institute in Entebbe where he tested positive for the virus,” The New Vision reported. The Director of the Epidemic Infectious Disease Unit in TRAC plus, Dr. Jackson Sebeza, however disproved the use of screening as a means of detecting the virus, that it is not effective. “We do not have the method in Rwanda simply because it requires a lot of resources yet it is not effective. World Health Organisation is against the method and if Uganda has managed to detect the influenza through this process, then it is only by chance that they did,” Sebeza emphasized. The Health expert however urged the public to strengthen the preventative measures of washing hands with soap, covering mouths when coughing and sneezing and reporting any suspicious cases should they arise. “Our surveillance system is also very strong,” he quickly added. Prof. Michael Kramer, the Director General of TRAC Plus, recently said that the ministry of health is set with a fully equipped emergency preparedness and response plan should any case arise. “We have more than 14,000 treatment doses of Tamiflu, a drug used to treat the virus and the influenza sentinel-surveillance sites were increased to ensure that there is at least one site per province. The National Reference Laboratory is also equipped with supplies for diagnosis of the influenza,” he underscored. The Nairobi-based United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also, recently ranked Rwanda among the countries that have updated their emergency plans with regard to the pandemic. The swine flu alert was recently raised from 5 to 6, the highest. Ends
