Health Minister Aden Duale said a Kenyan man who flew from Kampala to Nairobi on Saturday died late Monday of Bundibugyo Ebola, the country's first confirmed case in the Congo outbreak.
Kenya confirmed its first Ebola case on Tuesday after a Kenyan citizen who had lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo for seven years died in Nairobi. Health Minister Aden Duale said the man had been ill for about a month, was treated at several hospitals in Congo, then travelled by road to Kampala and flew to Nairobi on Saturday.
Duale said the patient passed ordinary airport screening, was taken by a relative to a city hospital, and was later moved to an isolation facility built during the Covid-19 pandemic. He died at 23:30 local time on Monday and was buried on Tuesday under public-health protocols. Tests identified the Bundibugyo species. The BBC noted there is no approved vaccine or treatment for that species, though some candidates have been trialled.
Duale said 28 contacts, including family members and health workers, had been identified, and that authorities were tracing 23 passengers and four crew from the flight. Patrick Amoth, director-general of the health ministry, said contacts would stay isolated for 21 days and be released if they tested negative. President William Ruto's office said eight family members and 21 health workers were being monitored.
Reuters said Kenya is the fourth country to record a case linked to the eastern Congo epidemic, which Al Jazeera reported had passed 8,300 confirmed cases and more than 4,000 deaths. Uganda recorded 20 cases and two deaths earlier in the year and was declared Ebola-free in August. A doctor who returned to France in June tested positive without further spread.
No secondary Kenyan cases had been announced by Tuesday evening. The next step described by officials is the 21-day watch on known contacts and the remaining flight tracing.
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- Aden Duale said the patient died after arriving from Congo and that contacts were being traced.
- Patrick Amoth said identified contacts would remain isolated for 21 days.