Kenya has confirmed its first case of Ebola.
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, speaking to the press Tuesday on Ebola preparedness in Nairobi, said the patient was a Kenyan citizen living in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who died last night.
Duale said the patient travelled from the DRC through Uganda before arriving in Kenya, where he was admitted to a Nairobi hospital.
The patient, a Kenyan who had been living in the DRC for the past seven years, fell ill about a month ago and was treated in several hospitals while still in the DRC.
So far, 28 contacts including family members and health workers have been identified, while authorities are tracing 23 passengers and four crew members who were on the same flight.
He was screened at the Port Health and Immigration desk before being taken to Nairobi Hospital, where he was isolated and later transferred to the hospital’s East Wing Isolation Facility.
The patient presented with fever, chills, intense fatigue, muscle pain, sore throat and bleeding under the skin at injection sites.
“Based on the presentation and history of travel to DRC, the doctor considered this a case of Viral Haemorrhagic Fever,” Duale said.
Samples tested positive for Ebola Bundibugyo Virus Disease at the National Virology Reference Laboratory and KEMRI laboratory.
“Arrangements for quarantine of those at risk to protect the public are ongoing,” he said.
Duale said Kenya has screened 652,584 travellers and tested 267 samples since maintaining heightened surveillance for Ebola, with only one test returning positive.
“I wish to reassure the public not to panic, as all systems are in place to mitigate the spread of the disease,” he said.
The public has been urged to maintain frequent handwashing, avoid close contact with sick people arriving from countries reporting active Ebola transmission and seek care at recognised health facilities when unwell.
