Panic in Kiambu after woman with Ebola-like symptoms dies

Health workers with an Ebola portable negative pressure bed at Kenyatta National Hospital. There was a scare in Kirigiti Village in Kiambu County on Wednesday after a woman started vomiting blood and bleeding from the nose and later died. But Kiambu District Hospital medical superintendent Dr John Kariuki said there was no cause for alarm, saying the woman was not suffering from Ebola. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• The woman, who lived in a rented flat, is reported to have started vomiting blood and bleeding from the nose earlier in the day.
• She collapsed at the bus terminus, where she had walked to catch a matatu to Kiambu District Hospital for treatment.
• But Kiambu District Hospital medical superintendent Dr John Kariuki said there was no cause for alarm, saying the woman was not suffering from Ebola.
• Dr Kariuki said initial tests established that she was suffering from a haemorrhagic fever whose symptoms are almost similar to those 

Panic gripped Kirigiti Village in Kiambu after a woman with Ebola-like symptoms died on Wednesday evening.

The woman, who lived in a rented house, is reported to have started vomiting blood and bleeding from the nose earlier in the day.

“She called me and requested me to rush her to the hospital. She was coughing, vomiting blood and bleeding from the nostrils, which really caused panic,” said Josephine Wanjiku, a neighbour.

She collapsed at the bus terminus, where she had walked to catch a matatu to Kiambu District Hospital for treatment.

Because the woman had symptoms almost similar to those of the deadly Ebola virus disease (EVD), no one, including the police and the chiefs, were willing to go near her.

“She died as people watched her helplessly from a distance because they did not want to get any contact with her for fear of contracting the ailment,” a witness, Joseph Kamau, said.

NOT EBOLA

But Kiambu Hospital medical superintendent Dr John Kariuki said there was no cause for alarm, saying the woman was not suffering from Ebola.

Dr Kariuki said initial tests established that she was suffering from a haemorrhagic fever whose symptoms are almost similar to those of Ebola.

“There is no need for panic because based on the initial tests, it has been established that she is not suffering from Ebola but medics are carrying out more tests to clear everything,” he said.

The doctor also said the investigations also revealed that the woman have not travelled to outside country lately.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), haemorrhagic fever is a general term for a severe illness, sometimes associated with bleeding, that may be caused by a number of viruses.

The body was moved to the Kenyatta National Hospital mortuary.

Several incidents of people developing or dying of symptoms similar to those of Ebola have occurred in Kenya, but after medical investigations, the victims were found to be free of the deadly ailment.

In August, WHO classified Kenya as a "high-risk" country for the spread of Ebola because it is a major transport hub, with many flights from West Africa.

However, no case of Ebola has been reported in Kenya since the outbreak of the disease, which has killed more than 6,000 people in three West Africa countries, and the government has maintained the country is well equipped to handle any Ebola case that may arise.