Ebola: first case recorded in Kenya. The patient has died

NAIROBI – Kenya has confirmed its first case of Ebola in a patient who had recently returned from a trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and died on 5 October in a hospital in Nairobi. The Minister of Health, Aden Duale, told journalists that the man had contracted the virus in Congo a month ago, travelled by road to the Ugandan capital Kampala and returned to the Kenyan capital on 3 October, before being “taken by a relative directly from JKIA airport to the hospital in Nairobi, where he was immediately placed in isolation in the dedicated facility”.

The authorities have traced a total of 28 contacts, including family members, passengers on the flight and healthcare workers. They are currently searching for a further 23, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Health.

The arrival of a ‘patient zero’ in Kenya has refocused attention on the virus outbreak, which was declared almost five months ago and has since seen at least 8,000 recorded cases and 4,000 deaths. The outbreak has been identified in the Congolese province of Ituri and is caused by the Bundibugyo variant, which is rarer and more difficult to tackle as there are no specific vaccines or treatments. William Ruto’s Kenyan government had agreed with the US to set up an isolation centre for US citizens within the country’s borders, but this was suspended by a ruling of the local High Court in June amid protests from the community over the risks of the virus spreading.