The Disease Surveillance team manning the Kenya-Tanzania border in Migori has heightened cross-border screening following an Ebola scare.
A spot check at the Isibania border point revealed that travellers from neighbouring Tanzania have to undergo thorough screening and verification of documents before they are allowed into the country.
This is after the government allayed fears of Ebola in the country after a patient was reportedly said to have contracted the disease in Kericho. The Health Ministry later dispelled the rumours.
Dr Samuel Juma, a cross-border disease surveillance coordinator, said that most of the travellers were from Burundi, Rwanda Tanzania and Congo, adding that they 'can not take any chances'.
"We have heightened our cross border surveillance following the scare and we are not taking chances as most of the travellers come from the affected countries," he said.
Dr Juma, however, noted that they had not recorded any suspected cases of the disease. He said that despite Kenya having a porous border, they have always carried out health sensitisation campaigns in communities bordering Tanzania.
"We have some communities from Kenya with relatives living in Tanzania and we have constantly embarked on sensitisation campaigns to keep them free from danger," he said.
However, the screening exercise has been hampered by poor surveillance along the border since not everyone who passes through the Kenya-Tanzania border undergoes the process.
Only those who pass through the Immigration offices go through the screening exercise.
Alloys Mwita, a health official, noted that they receive close to 400 travellers on a daily basis prompting them to maintain vigilance at the border.