KIGALI – The Republic of Rwanda on Thursday, July 18 confirmed that there is no Ebola case in the country.
This was said in response to reports from World Health Organization (WHO) this week, which indicated that a fishmonger who died of the Ebola virus may have carried the disease into the country through Rwanda’s Gisenyi town, which borders DR Congo.
The Head of Communications at Rwanda Biomedical Centre Mr Malic Kayumba has come out and quashed these reports saying it is not true according to International reports by media agencies.
“There is no Ebola in Rwanda as far as we are concerned. We have a strong surveillance system in place that helps us to prevent its entry,” he confirmed.
Mr. Kayumba added that Rwanda is always informed of any emergency concerning health.
“We investigate every day and have a system that informs us of all we need to know, and such news would be coming from us. If there was entry of a suspected Ebola victim we would have known,” He added.
The fishmonger is reported to have vomited at a market in Mpondwe on the Ugandan border last Thursday before returning to DR Congo and dying of the virus.
Upon leaving Uganda, she is suspected to have gone to Goma in DRC and later to Gisenyi in Rwanda with unknown business interests.
She later sought medical care in a private clinic in Beni.
However, on Wednesday, July 17, WHO said the locals came to learn about her death two days ago but still attribute this to ‘miscarriage or witchcraft’.
