The Government of Kenya announced this Tuesday the detection of the first case of Ebola in the country and specified that the affected individual, a Kenyan citizen who lived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has died as a result of the virus. In the DRC, an outbreak has been ongoing since May, accumulating 8,600 infections and nearly 4,150 deaths.
According to a statement released by the Kenyan Ministry of Health on social media, the man had been residing in the DRC for seven years and "fell ill about a month ago." He received medical attention at several Congolese health centers before traveling by road to Uganda and subsequently taking a flight from Kampala to Nairobi on October 3.
"He was subjected to public health supervision at the health and migration post," explained the Ministry, which added that a friend picked him up at the airport and took him to a hospital in the capital. There, he "was quickly isolated" after presenting "fever, chills, intense fatigue, weakness, muscle pain, sore throat, and bleeding under the skin at the injection sites."
Given this clinical picture and his recent stay in the DRC, health workers suspected a possible case of Ebola and ordered laboratory tests, which confirmed the infection. The patient, whose identity has not been made public, died late Monday at the medical center where he was hospitalized.
The Ministry has indicated that "there are activities underway for a safe and dignified burial of the deceased. The burial is scheduled to take place today, respecting the protocols for a safe and dignified burial in cases of Ebola," and has reported that 28 close contacts have already been identified.
The authorities are also working to locate 23 passengers and four crew members who traveled on the same flight between Kampala and Nairobi, with the aim of assessing their level of exposure. Those individuals considered a risk to public health will be placed in preventive isolation.
The Minister of Health, Aden Duale, has emphasized that the country's institutions "maintain a high level of alert against Ebola" since the beginning of the current outbreak in the DRC. To date, more than 652,000 travelers have been subjected to screenings and 267 laboratory tests have been conducted for possible suspected cases.
"In line with international health regulations, we have notified what happened to the World Health Organization (WHO)," Duale has indicated, who has asked the public to "not panic." "All systems are in place to mitigate the spread of the disease," he insisted.
With this case, Kenya becomes the second country, in addition to the DRC, to confirm imported infections linked to the current outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is still no authorized vaccine or treatment.
Uganda declared on July 28 the end of the circulation of the virus after 42 days of monitoring —equivalent to two incubation periods since the discharge of the last patient— required to declare an outbreak closed. In its territory, 20 cases and two deaths were recorded.