Kenya confirms ninth Ebola case, a relative of the first patient
The Health Ministry says all eight surviving patients are improving and that the first contacts finish quarantine from 25 October.
Based on reporting by Premium Times via AllAfrica and ABC News.
Kenyan health researchers at a training session. File photo, 2025. Photo: U.S. Army WRAIR by [null Courtesy] / Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Kenya has confirmed its ninth Ebola case. The Ministry of Health said the new patient is a 24-year-old man, a close relative of the country's first patient, who developed symptoms while in quarantine and tested positive on 19 October.
Director General for Health Dr Patrick Amoth said all nine cases belong to one known cluster and there is no evidence of spread beyond it. One patient, the first case, has died. The ministry said the other eight are stable and improving.
The ministry said 134 of 135 known contacts have been traced and quarantined. Contacts with no symptoms who entered quarantine on 6 October will complete their 21 days of monitoring and begin going home from 25 October.
Kenya has received 500 doses of medicine for confirmed patients, and a dedicated testing laboratory has been set up at Kenyatta National Hospital. There are no restrictions on travel, trade or public gatherings.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of a sick person or someone who has died of the disease. Anyone with fever, unusual tiredness, muscle pain, vomiting or diarrhoea should seek care or call the ministry's free line, 719.
