Kenya has confirmed its first Ebola case after the death of a Kenyan national in Nairobi, who had returned from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The patient, who had lived in the DRC for seven years, had been ill for about a month before travelling by road from the DRC to Uganda’s capital, Kampala, and then flying to Nairobi on Saturday, Aden Duale, Kenya’s health secretary, told a news conference on Tuesday.
Seeking to halt local transmission, Kenya’s President William Ruto said at least eight family members of the victim and 21 healthcare workers have been quarantined, as he ordered an enhanced response to contain the virus in the country.
Earlier, Health Secretary Duale said 28 contacts, including family members and health workers who cared for the patient, had been identified. Another 23 passengers and four crew members who travelled on the same flight from Uganda were being traced.
Patrick Amoth, director-general of the Kenyan Ministry of Health, said the contacts will remain in isolation for 21 days and will be released if they test negative for the virus.
Uganda reported 20 cases and two deaths earlier in the year, but was declared Ebola-free in August.
The current outbreak, which is the DRC’s 17th, has spread rapidly since it was officially declared on May 15.
The outbreak has claimed more than 4,000 lives, according to figures released by the government on Friday, and confirmed cases have reached 8,300 across seven provinces, making it the worst Ebola epidemic in the country’s history.
The World Health Organization has warned that the epidemic is “far from over” and on track to surpass the regional 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, which killed more than 11,000 people, primarily in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
At the same time, the United Nations organisation has advised against imposing travel and trade restrictions on Kenya, DRC and Uganda following the Ebola-related death in Kenya.