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{
    "id": 202713,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/202713/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 93,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Dr. Machage",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Health",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 179,
        "legal_name": "Wilfred Gisuka Machage",
        "slug": "wilfred-machage"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, the whole of Kenya has malaria. So, whether you come from a very cold area or not, mosquitoes are everywhere in this country. Sometimes the mosquito bites are not from the very area where the disease is noted. A patient could have been bitten by a mosquito, say, 11 days ago. The incubation period for malaria parasites to exhibit themselves as malaria is 14 days. So, you cannot really tell unless you really know that the patient had not visited a lowland area within those two weeks. Mr. Speaker, Sir, however, we take serious interest in all fevers and, more so, in patients who show signs of haemorraghe at death although it is also known that haemorraghe at death could be a normal phenomenon in some deceased bodies. We know that, as late as July, 2007, Uganda reported cases of Marburgh disease. We know that we have reported cases of Ebola in Congo, but we have an adequate system to rule out these diseases with regard to the cases that have been mentioned here. I mentioned it here in the last Statement that I made and allayed anxiety among Kenyans that, really, it was very remote to think of Ebola . However, the news media reported otherwise. September 20, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 4067 Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are aware of constant movement of people from Central Africa, particularly from the Congo Basin, to East Africa. We have put in place strong mechanisms to follow all people coming from the Congo Basin to this country. Those people are checked and asked relevant questions that may tell us whether they are infected or not. The Ebola and Maburg diseases and others in that group, which include the Yellow Fever, Kalaazar Fever and so on are actually diseases with a very short incubation period. Fevers arising from these diseases usually depict in a very short period and so you can sort out these at the point of entry. They do not have a long incubation period like malaria and other diseases that are parasitic in nature. These are viral diseases with a very short incubation period. Of course, we have other differentials that we have to rule out. The Rhino Virus infection, which includes the common cold, could also present itself in the same manner."
}