Kenya Confirms First Ebola Case After Nairobi Death

Kenya has confirmed its first Ebola case after a Kenyan national who had returned from the Democratic Republic of the Congo died in Nairobi.

The patient had lived in the DRC for seven years and had been ill for about a month before travelling by road to Kampala, Uganda, and later flying to Nairobi on Saturday, according to Kenya’s health secretary, Aden Duale.

Contacts placed in quarantine and isolation

Kenyan authorities have begun tracing people who may have been exposed to the patient. President William Ruto said at least eight family members and 21 healthcare workers had been quarantined.

Duale said 28 contacts, including relatives and healthcare workers who cared for the patient, had been identified. The differing figures were reported by the two officials.

Patrick Amoth, director-general of Kenya’s Ministry of Health, said contacts would remain in isolation for 21 days. They would be released if they tested negative for the virus, according to Amoth.

Authorities were also tracing 23 passengers and four crew members who travelled on the same flight from Uganda to Nairobi.

Regional outbreak concerns

The case has been linked to the wider Ebola outbreak in the DRC, where government figures report more than 8,300 confirmed cases and more than 4,000 deaths across seven provinces. The current outbreak was officially declared on May 15 and is the country’s 17th Ebola outbreak.

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

The World Health Organization has warned that the epidemic is “far from over”. The outbreak has been described as on track to surpass the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which primarily affected Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and caused more than 11,000 deaths.

A United Nations organisation advised against imposing travel and trade restrictions on Kenya, the DRC and Uganda.

Ruto has ordered an enhanced response to contain the virus in Kenya. Authorities have not provided the patient’s name, the exact date of death, details of the diagnostic testing used, or information on whether additional cases have been identified.