Kenya has confirmed a second case of the Ebola disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus, the country’s ministry of health announced in a statement.
“Kenya has now recorded two confirmed cases and one death,” said Patrick Amoth, director-general for health in Kenya’s Ministry of Health.
According to Wednesday’s statement, the second patient is a 39-year-old man who is a close family member of the first case.
The previous Kenyan Ebola victim who died on 5 October was diagnosed with Ebola shortly after being admitted to hospital in the capital, Nairobi.
He had travelled from DR Congo, through Uganda to Kenya without his illness being detected.
Since his death, officials had determined that he had been in contact with 128 people – and since Tuesday 113 of them had been found, the health ministry said.
Of these, 108 were in quarantine in Kenya and tracing of the remaining 15 continued, it said.
More than 4,000 people have died from Ebola in DR Congo this year, in what is the second most deadly known outbreak to date.
The ministry said the individual who was under the 21-day mandatory quarantine developed fever, fatigue, and joint pains.
According to the Ministry of Health, diagnostic evaluations returned matching positive results from both the National Virology Reference Laboratory and the Kenya Medical Research Institute-CDC facility, confirming the infection.
“He is now in a designated treatment center where trained teams are giving him supportive care. Because he was already in quarantine, his illness was detected early,” the ministry said in a statement.
Despite the confirmation of a second case, the government clarified that no restrictions have been placed on travel, trade, or public gatherings, and that the country remains fully open.
MG/as/APA