Kenya has confirmed a second case of Ebola virus disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus, linked to the initial case, with no evidence of wider community transmission.

The director-general for health at the Ministry of Health, Patrick Amoth, said, “Kenya has now recorded two confirmed cases and one death.”

The latest patient, a 39-year-old man, is a close family contact of the index case and was already in mandatory quarantine under daily medical surveillance.

After developing a fever, fatigue and joint pain, the patient was isolated by the quarantine response team, which collected clinical samples for laboratory testing.

The ministry of health said tests conducted at the National Virology Reference Laboratory and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) facility returned positive results, confirming the infection.

In a statement issued in Nairobi, the ministry said, “He is now in a designated treatment centre, where trained teams are providing supportive care.

“Early supportive care improves his chances of recovery, while isolating him at the first sign of symptoms limits the risk of transmitting the virus to others. This is the response working as designed,” it added.

The second case comes after Kenya confirmed its first Ebola case on October 6, linked to the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The index patient, a Kenyan citizen who had lived in the DRC for seven years, recently returned to Kenya through regional transit routes.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that the patient sought medical attention at healthcare facilities in the DRC before travelling by road on October 2 through Beni to Kampala, Uganda.

On October 3, he boarded a commercial flight operated by Jambojet to Nairobi, where he underwent routine health screening upon arrival at the airport.

A family member subsequently took him to Nairobi Hospital, where medical personnel immediately placed him in isolation.

Despite receiving supportive care, the patient died on October 5 and was buried the following day in accordance with the country’s safe and dignified burial protocols for viral haemorrhagic fevers. 

(Xinhua/NAN)