Kenya confirms second Ebola case as contact of first patient tests positive
The new patient is linked to the man who died in Nairobi earlier this month, as authorities widen contact tracing.
Kenya has confirmed a second case of Ebola after a contact of the country’s first patient tested positive, the Ministry of Health said on Wednesday. The case raises the stakes for a response that had, until now, held the virus to a single imported infection.
The first patient, a Kenyan citizen, arrived home from the Democratic Republic of Congo via Uganda and was isolated and treated at The Nairobi Hospital, where he died on 5 October. Laboratory tests confirmed the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment.
Before Wednesday’s announcement, the ministry said it had tested 293 samples from 289 alerts with no new positives, and that 108 of the 122 people listed as contacts of the first patient were in quarantine without symptoms. Contacts are monitored for 21 days.
The outbreak was declared in eastern DRC in mid-May and has passed 8,000 cases, making it the second-largest Ebola epidemic on record. Kenya is the fourth country to record a case linked to it. The United Kingdom said on Wednesday it would not impose travel restrictions on Kenya.
Health officials are urging the public to stay calm, avoid sharing unverified claims, and seek medical care immediately if they develop symptoms such as sudden fever, weakness, vomiting or unexplained bleeding after possible exposure.