(Access Radio Morning Bulletin) – South Sudan’s health system has been placed on high alert after neighbouring Kenya confirmed its first case of Ebola, even as no cases have been detected inside the country.
The alert covers the Bundibugyo virus, the strain responsible for the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has now spread across borders.
Caretaker Health Minister Dak Duop Bichiok said the government was closely monitoring the regional situation. He said the confirmation of Ebola in Kenya had increased the risk of cross-border transmission.
Bichiok pointed to South Sudan’s proximity to affected areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo and regional travel routes through Uganda and Kenya.
The Kenyan patient was a citizen who had lived in eastern Congo for several years. He travelled by road through Uganda before flying to Nairobi on 3rd October.
He was isolated and later died on 5th October. Kenya has since identified 28 contacts, including family members and healthcare workers, and placed them under quarantine.
Screening is being carried out at border crossings and other points of entry. A national task force has been set up, and eight infectious disease units are ready for isolation and clinical case management.
The government has urged communities, travellers, transport operators, religious leaders and civil society organisations to cooperate with health officials.
Separately, South Sudan’s national standards body has completed the renovation of its central laboratory in Juba and equipped it with new machines to improve product testing and certification.
The upgraded laboratory will allow more tests to be carried out locally, cutting delays previously caused by sending samples abroad. The South Sudan National Bureau of Standards says the facility can now test products for heavy metals, sugar content and fatty acids.
Naima Samson-Goma, Director of Certification and Export, said the upgrade could reduce certification delays from two to three months to about one month, depending on the tests required.
The bureau said the laboratory upgrade will improve product quality, safety and consumer confidence in certified goods. It added that the central laboratory had been operational all along, and the recent renovation was undertaken to improve its working environment and capacity.
In other news, Uganda has appealed to South Sudan to reconsider restrictions affecting Ugandan traders after Juba County authorities called on foreign traders to leave small scale retail businesses to locals.
Rebecca Kadaga, Uganda’s Minister of East African Community Affairs, called on South Sudan to respect the common market protocol of the East African Community. She said any measures affecting Ugandan traders should be implemented fairly and without discrimination.
Kadaga said Uganda recognises South Sudan’s sovereign right to regulate businesses within its territory. Affected Ugandan traders should document what has happened and report through Uganda’s diplomatic missions.
The remarks follow comments by the caretaker Commissioner of Juba County, Kalisto Lado, on 5th October. Lado instructed foreign traders at Kubri Haboba Market to focus on wholesale trade and larger investments, leaving small scale businesses to South Sudanese.
Meanwhile, in Darfur, two suspects have been arrested in connection with the killing of a senior commander in the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur.
Mohamed Bashar Noreen was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on Sunday at an artisanal gold mining site in West Keila, in the Malam locality of South Darfur.
SLM fighters tracked down two alleged attackers on Monday and detained them in areas under the movement’s control in Jebel Marra. One suspect allegedly admitted participating in the killing alongside five others who fled.
The Rapid Support Forces denied that the detained men belonged to its forces, identifying them instead as members of a separate mobilised fighting group. The RSF pledged to help locate the remaining suspects.
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