Director General of Africa-CDC Dr. Jean Kaseya has said that Rwanda has almost zero risk of exporting the Marburg outbreak, thanks to a number of serious measures put in place.
"What I saw in Rwanda is almost zero risk. I say 'almost' because we cannot say (it is) 100 percent. But I can say (it is) 95 percent sure that there is zero risk for Rwanda to spread the disease outside," he said during an online press conference on Thursday, October 10.
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As of Wednesday, 58 Marburg cases had been confirmed in the country. Of these, there are 13 fatalities, representing a 22 percent fatality rate.
Kaseya who travelled to Rwanda recently praised the country's preventive measures including how various institutions including the police, health facilities, and transport officials, work together.
"They can locate an ambulance anywhere in the country, not just in Kigali. And they can deploy personnel on timely mode," he said as he lauded the mechanisms in place to trace and follow up on contacts so that they cannot fly out of Rwanda.
"This is amazing because they are monitoring these contacts on a daily basis. I want also to say that Rwanda is applying transparency in this outbreak," he said, as he argued that the country should not be "punished" with travel bans.
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On Wednesday, Kaseya called out a decision by the US to issue a travel notice to Rwanda due to the Marburg outbreak, saying it is unfair and unacceptable.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday, October 8, issued a level 3 travel notice for the country and said next week it will begin screening travellers who have recently been in Rwanda.
The US-CDC upped its advice from a level 2 notice (take enhanced precautions) to a level 3, which urges people to reconsider nonessential travel. It said the recommendation applies to all of Rwanda, because Marburg infections have been confirmed in several districts.
Kaseya said Rwanda's way of dealing with Marburg has been good and he expects the country to be out of the outbreak very soon.
"Rwanda is putting in place everything; all mechanisms," he said, pointing out how the country has deployed vaccination, treatment, as well as testing.
Last week, Rwanda received 700 doses of a vaccine under trial from the U.S.-based Sabin Vaccine Institute, for health workers and emergency responders as well as individuals who have been in contact with confirmed cases.
