Kenya Confirms Second Ebola Infection in Family Member of First Case

Kenya has reported a second Ebola infection, involving a close family member of the country’s first confirmed patient, according to the Ministry of Health.

The second patient is a 39-year-old man who developed fever, fatigue and joint pain on Tuesday while already in quarantine. The ministry said he is receiving appropriate care at a designated treatment centre.

The report comes about a week after Kenya confirmed its first-ever Ebola case, intensifying concerns over disease surveillance and movement across the region.

First patient died in Nairobi

Kenya’s first patient was a citizen who had been living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo before travelling to Kenya. He died two days after arriving at a Nairobi hospital.

According to the reported account of his journey, the patient drove from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Uganda before flying onward to Nairobi. The route raised questions about how he travelled through the region without being detected and about the effectiveness of border screening.

Kenya has said it strengthened its national response after recording the first case. Health Minister Aden Duale said on October 7 that authorities had traced people who came into contact with the first patient. At least 57 contacts were reported, with 10 immediately placed in quarantine.

Regional authorities to examine travel route

Kenya’s Director-General for Health, Patrick Amoth, said a meeting was scheduled with officials from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and the Africa CDC. The meeting was intended to examine how the first patient travelled through the region without being identified.

Ugandan government media centre executive director Alan Kasujja rejected suggestions that Uganda currently had Ebola. Writing on X, he said: “Leave Uganda out of this conversation. We don’t have Ebola here.”

Uganda was declared Ebola-free in August after reporting 20 cases and two deaths earlier in the year. The border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo had reportedly been closed since May because of the outbreak.

Ministry to provide further updates

Kenya’s Ministry of Health said it would continue sharing information about the second patient’s progress. It did not provide the patient’s name, the exact location of the treatment centre, laboratory testing details or information about his current outcome.

The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been reported to involve more than 9,000 cases and over 4,000 deaths. The disease spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids from infected people, whether living or dead, and may cause fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in severe cases, internal and external bleeding.