Kenya Confirms Second Ebola Case

Kenya has confirmed a second case of Ebola, with the Health Ministry saying there is currently no evidence that the deadly virus is spreading widely within the community.

The announcement came on Wednesday, days after the country recorded its first Ebola-related death involving a Kenyan man who had been living in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) before returning home.

“The Ministry of Health confirms a second case of Ebola,” it said in a statement. 

The ministry said the newly confirmed patient is a 39-year-old man who is a close relative of the first victim. He was already in quarantine and under observation when tests confirmed the infection.

Health officials said the patient was isolated after developing fever, fatigue and joint pain, before subsequent testing returned a positive result. He has since been transferred to a designated treatment centre, where medical teams are providing supportive care.

“He is now in a designated treatment centre, where trained teams are giving him supportive care,” the statement added. 

The ministry said identifying the infection early and isolating the patient had reduced the risk of transmission, adding that investigations had not established evidence of wider community spread.

Authorities have identified 128 people who had contact with the first patient and had traced 113 of them as of Tuesday. Of those traced, 108 were quarantined in Kenya, while the remaining five were located abroad. Health authorities in the relevant countries have been notified.

The ministry said efforts continue to locate the other 15 contacts.

Kenya had never previously recorded an Ebola case before the current incident.

Neighbouring Uganda reported 20 cases, most involving people who had travelled from the DRC, and two deaths before being declared Ebola-free in August.

Kenya’s first victim was a 40-year-old businessman whose name has not been released publicly. He reportedly became ill about a month ago and received treatment in the DRC before travelling overland to Kampala, Uganda, and then flying to Nairobi on October 3.

Health Minister Aden Duale said the man was admitted to a hospital in Nairobi but died on October 5.

The DRC declared its 17th Ebola outbreak in May. The disease has killed more than 15,000 people across Africa over the past five decades.

Congolese health authorities have reported 9,066 infections and 4,381 deaths in the current outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain of the virus. No vaccine or specific treatment is currently approved for this strain.