A 65-year-old woman who was a close relative of Kenya’s first Ebola patient died on Friday evening at an infectious disease unit in Nairobi, where she had been receiving supportive care. She had developed symptoms while in quarantine about 10 days earlier.
The Health Ministry announced Kenya’s second Ebola death on Friday. It said the seven other confirmed patients were all part of a single cluster and that there was no evidence of community spread.
The outbreak began with a 40-year-old Kenyan man living in Congo, who fell ill in September and received treatment at several hospitals in DR Congo before travelling to Kenya via Uganda. He arrived on October 3.
A relative drove him to Nairobi Hospital, where he tested positive for Ebola on October 5 and died the same day. Kenya announced its first Ebola case on October 6.
Authorities identified approximately 135 contacts of the first patient and placed 118 in quarantine. Eight contacts tested positive during quarantine, including four health workers and four close family members. The woman who died was among those family members.
Seven people continue to receive Ebola treatment at two isolation facilities, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Kenya to nine, including the two deaths.
The health ministry said contacts who completed 21-day quarantine without symptoms would be released.
Genomic tests found that the virus in Kenya’s first patient resembled the virus in Nigeria’s first case. Nigeria became the fourth African country to report an Ebola case on Tuesday, and its health minister, Muhammad Ali Pate, said analysis showed the virus was closely related to Kenya’s index case.
The virus involved is the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, for which there is no approved vaccine or specific treatment.
The Democratic Republic of Congo declared its 17th Ebola outbreak in May and has reported more than 9,000 cases and more than 4,600 deaths. World Health Organization figures showed that, as of October 20, infections had passed 9,700 confirmed cases globally, including 4,690 deaths.
Uganda has said travellers with a history of travel to DRC will not be allowed to transit through the country. Kenya has introduced enhanced screening for travellers arriving from DR Congo and nine other countries, requiring a digital surveillance form and a QR code on arrival.
With more than 9,500 cases in DR Congo, Kenya faces a steady risk of new cases crossing its borders, according to the International Rescue Committee.
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