Businesswoman Mary Malisi crosses the border regularly for work. The Kenyan hotel owner buys grain from markets in Uganda for use in her establishment back home in the border town of Malaba.
On both sides of the Kenya-Uganda border, Malaba – which shares one name – is bustling and vibrant, filled with people of different cultures and nationalities constantly passing through.
Malaba is a one-stop border post which clears more than 2,000 trucks every day, making it the busiest transit route among East African countries.
On the Ugandan side, there is also the Malaba river which marks another busy crossing point between the neighbours.
On August 14, when a new strain of the mpox virus known as Clade 1b was declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO), Malisi and others who travel frequently became worried.