South Sudan: Health ministry, WHO install Ebola surveillance teams at border points with Uganda

(radiotamazuj.org)

South Sudan's Ministry of Health and its health partners have installed emergency surveillance teams in Nimule, Kaya, and Yambio in a bid to contain the Ebola virus from crossing from neighboring Uganda to South Sudan. 

South Sudan currently has 12 border points with Uganda according to the Minister of Health Yolanda Awel Deng and all will need surveillance teams to be installed.

A high-level government delegation and health partners visited Nimule town over the weekend to assess the level of emergency response preparedness on the ground.

"We need awareness in our communities. I would like to tell you that right now in South Sudan we don't have a case of Ebola confirmed yet, but the situation in Uganda is developing very fast. As of Saturday 24th of September, Uganda confirmed 34 cases of Ebola with 21 deaths and we have over 300 contacts that need to be traced. As you know we have got people coming every day from Kampala and other Ugandan towns to South Sudan, and that means that we have to be vigilant," Minister Awel stated. "My visit here with the team is to give moral support to the front-line health workers on the ground and at the same time to see the gaps."

She added, "Right now we have got a lot of gaps in regards to the isolation units and regards to the points of entries. The government plus the developmental partners and the donors in the country need to mobilize more resources so that we can be ready. We have got a facility here in Nimule but that facility needs to be developed because it was established in 2018 during the Ebola outbreak in Congo. So that facility needs to be developed. 

The minister further assured the public that no case has been reported in the country yet and that the public health operation committee has been activated to respond to any Ebola situation.

"The team we have here in Nimule; the ministry of interior and the ministry of health plus other agencies here we are ready to screen people, we are ready to guide our public. The public should not panic even if we have got a case of Ebola we can manage it because we have got the technical know-how, we have got a technical team ready. We just need to make sure that the resources are availed as soon as we can, and we have got 24 hours activation notes," Awel said.

For his part, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Representative in South Sudan Dr. Fabian Ndenzako pledged that his organization and other health partners will stand alongside South Sudan's government to contain the deadly disease.

"WHO and UN with other partners will continue to work very closely with the government at the national and county levels to make sure that all the pillars of incidence management of Ebola are well prepared and we can be able to respond timely," he said.

He indicated that the team that visited the border points identified some areas along the borders that require work in terms of preparedness and response.

As of Monday, Uganda confirmed 36 cases of Ebola Sudan strain, 18 of which are confirmed, with over 300 contacts and 23 deaths.