Kenya Confirms Second Ebola Case Linked to First Patient

Kenya has reported a second Ebola case linked to the country’s first confirmed patient, with the newly identified patient developing symptoms while already in quarantine.

The health ministry said the patient is a 39-year-old man and a close family member of the first case. He developed symptoms on Tuesday, although the exact calendar date was not specified.

First patient travelled through Uganda

The first patient was a Kenyan man who had been ill in Congo. He travelled by road to Uganda before flying to Nairobi on October 3.

He died at a hospital in Nairobi on October 5. His case raised concerns about border screening after he crossed into Uganda despite the Congo-Uganda border having been closed since May.

Kenya was the fourth country to report a case connected to the Ebola outbreak in Congo.

Regional outbreak

The outbreak in Congo was declared in mid-May and was caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain. More than 8,000 cases and over 4,000 deaths had been recorded in the outbreak, according to the supplied account.

Uganda reported 20 cases and two deaths earlier in the year before being declared Ebola-free in August.

A doctor who returned to France from Congo in June also tested positive, but no further transmission was reported in that case.

Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people. Symptoms can include fever, vomiting and diarrhoea, while severe infections can lead to internal and external bleeding.