KITALE, Kenya, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Kenya has intensified surveillance along the porous border with Uganda to prevent spread of Ebola, health officials said on Tuesday.
Clare Wamalwa, Trans Nzoia County executive member for health, disclosed that 310 health workers and 400 community health volunteers trained on Ebola management have already been deployed at the Kenya-Uganda border.
She said that seven isolation sites have been established in Trans Nzoia County and 24-hour surveillance team deployed at a border crossing.
Wamalwa told a stakeholders meeting in Kitale that a response team had been formed to strengthen campaigns against Ebola.
"Apart from procuring the necessary medical gears, we have involved a multi-sectoral approach to sensitize the residents about the dangers of Ebola," said Wamalwa.
The county official said that due to intensive movement of people between Kenya and Uganda, the screening exercise at Suam border has been stepped up.
Gilbert Suwon, Trans Nzoia County director of health prevention and promotion, said the porous borders pose a challenge in Ebola prevention.
"The porous border is our biggest challenges and we have been forced to destroy foot bridges erected on illegal entry points to minimize the risk of Ebola outbreak," said Suwon.
Uganda's ministry of health on June 11 confirmed three Ebola cases while two of the patients that included a five-year-old boy and his grandmother succumbed to the disease.
