Kenya’s Ministry of Health said it has confirmed four more Ebola cases, bringing the total number of patients from the disease to seven.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the ministry said three of the new cases were among health workers who were treating the country’s first patient.
The fourth patient is a close male relative of the first Ebola patient, who later died.
“All four individuals developed fever as their first symptom and were immediately isolated, with specimens collected for testing,” the statement quoted Patrick Amoth, director-general for health in Kenya’s Ministry of Health, as saying.
Amoth said all four patients were currently receiving supportive care from trained health personnel, while the risk of their transmitting the virus to their families and the general public remained low because they had been detected early at quarantine facilities.
Kenya reported its first imported case of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease on Oct. 6 in a man who had lived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for seven years, later died and was given a safe and dignified burial at a public cemetery to prevent further spread of the virus.
On Wednesday, Kenya reported its second Ebola case, involving a 39-year-old man who was a close relative of the first patient. On Friday, the country announced its third case of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease, involving a 65-year-old woman who was a primary contact and a close relative of the first and second patients.
Amoth said that of the 130 contacts who may have interacted with the first patient, 128 had been traced and were in quarantine for monitoring through the 21-day incubation period, during which symptoms of Ebola may develop.
MG/as/APA