Kenya confirms second Ebola case, a close relative of its first patient

A second case tied to the first patient

Kenya's Ministry of Health confirmed on Wednesday, 14 October, a second Ebola case in a 39-year-old man who is a close relative of the country's first patient. That first patient, a 40-year-old Kenyan who had returned from the Democratic Republic of the Congo via Uganda, tested positive on 5 October and died the same day in a Nairobi hospital. The second man was already in quarantine and under daily observation when he developed fever, fatigue and joint pain on 13 October. He was isolated at once, tested positive in two laboratories with matching results, and is now at a designated treatment centre receiving supportive care. Because he was already under watch, the illness was caught early and he had little contact with other people, the ministry said.

Contact tracing

The ministry has identified 128 contacts of the first patient and had located 113 of them as of 13 October. Of those located, 108 are in quarantine in Kenya, undergoing daily clinical and temperature checks for 21 days from their last possible exposure. Five contacts are outside Kenya, and the health authorities of those countries have been notified, although the ministry did not say which countries they are. Searches continue for the remaining 15 contacts. Medical teams are also assessing everyone who was in contact with the second case since symptoms began, including quarantine staff and health workers. The ministry says the two cases are linked and that there is no evidence of spread in the wider community.

Outbreak across the region

Kenya is the fourth country to record infected patients in the current outbreak, after the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and France. In eastern Congo, the national health authority has confirmed 9,144 Ebola cases in laboratories, and 4,410 people have died since the outbreak began in mid-May. Africa CDC describes it as the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history. The Bundibugyo variant has spread to seven DRC provinces, and no vaccines exist specifically for it.

Uganda recorded about twenty cases and two deaths, then declared its alarm over and reported no cases since August. France recorded a single case, a doctor returning from the DRC, and the virus has not spread from that case.

Border checks and the route of infection

The first patient travelled overland from the DRC to Uganda, then flew to Nairobi, where relatives took him to hospital. His arrival triggered tensions over gaps in border monitoring, which pushed the government led by William Ruto to speed up checks and contact tracing. Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected patients, causing diarrhea, fever, nausea and, in the most serious cases, bleeding. The ministry says early isolation at the first symptom limits the risk of passing the virus to others. Tracing of the remaining 15 contacts is still under way.