New Mpox case confirmed in Kericho as national tally rises to 10

The number of Mpox cases in the country has risen to 10 after the Ministry of Health reported on Thursday that one more person contracted the disease in the last 24 hours.

Health Cabinet Secretary Dr. Deborah Barasa in a statement confirmed the new case was detected in Kericho County of a 35-year-old female.

The 10 confirmed cases presently are hence distributed across the following counties: Nakuru (2), Taita Tavern (I), Busia (I), Nairobi (I), Mombasa (I), Makueni (I), Kajiado (I), Bungoma (I) and Kericho (I)

CS Barasa however noted that the health ministry is yet to register any deaths among the cases confirmed so far.

“Our surveillance efforts remain robust, and the ministry has traced 68 contacts, 61 of whom have been monitored for the recommended 2I-day period, and the remaining 7 contacts are being monitored by our public health teams in the respective counties and Community Health Promotors (CHPs),” she stated.

"Only one of the contacts tested positive for Mpox during the monitoring period. Additionally, the Ministry continues to screen travellers at all Points of Entry (POEs).

According to the CS, in the last 24 hours alone, 117,377 travellers have been screened, raising the total of travellers screened across 26 POEs to 1,146,353.

The Health CS further noted that the National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) has received and tested 230 samples to date, with 10 confirmed positive, 216 testing negative and another 4 still being tested.