Ebola in Kenya: four more cases, including three health workers, take total to seven

Update, 17 October: Kenya confirms four more Ebola cases, total now seven

Kenya's Ministry of Health confirmed four more Ebola cases on Saturday, 17 October, bringing the country's total to seven, including the first patient who died, in a statement signed by Health Director-General Dr Patrick Amoth, Kenyans.co.ke reported. Al Jazeera also reported the new total.

• Who: one close male relative of the first patient, in quarantine since 6 October, and three health workers (aged 29, 32 and 35) who treated the first patient on 3 and 4 October and had been in quarantine since 9 October.
• How they were found: all four developed fever while already in quarantine. The results were confirmed by both the National Virology Reference Laboratory and the KEMRI laboratory.
• Care: all four are receiving supportive care at designated treatment facilities.
• Deaths: one, the first patient, on 5 October.
• Risk: the ministry says the risk to the general public remains low, with no evidence of community transmission, because every new case was already a known, quarantined contact.

That health workers are among the cases is the worrying part: it shows how the virus passed before the first patient was identified. For travellers, the advice below is unchanged: anyone who has been in the DRC, Uganda or Kenya and develops fever within 21 days should report the trip to a doctor or the airport health desk first.

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Earlier, 14 October: Kenya confirms a second Ebola case

Kenya's Ministry of Health confirmed a second Ebola infection on Wednesday, 14 October, Al Jazeera reported, citing the ministry's statement.

• The patient is a 39-year-old man, a close family member of Kenya's first case.
• He was already in quarantine when he developed fever, fatigue and joint pain on Tuesday, 13 October.
• He is being treated at a designated treatment centre, and the ministry says it will keep publishing updates on his condition.
• Health Minister Aden Duale said on 7 October that Kenya had traced at least 57 contacts of the first patient, with 10 quarantined at once.
• Kenya has stepped up screening at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi and at the Busia border post with Uganda.

Kenya is the fourth country to record a case linked to the DRC epidemic, which Al Jazeera puts at more than 9,000 cases and more than 4,000 deaths, the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record. Because the second patient was already in quarantine, he is a contact of a known case rather than a sign of spread in the wider community.

For travellers from Pakistan: Nairobi is a common connection for Pakistanis working or trading in East Africa. Anyone who has been in the DRC, Uganda or Kenya and develops fever within 21 days should tell the airport health desk or a doctor about the trip before anything else.

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The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has reached 8,728 confirmed cases and 4,205 confirmed deaths, according to World Health Organization figures to 6 October, and Kenya has confirmed its first imported case, Al Jazeera reported. The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a species of Ebola for which there is no approved vaccine or specific treatment.

The numbers

Ituri province has the most cases so far, but North Kivu is growing fast: it accounted for nearly 40% of new confirmed cases by 5 October, up from 24% at the end of August, according to MSF. Alimbongo health zone reported its first four cases, two of them fatal.

The Kenya case

• The patient was a Kenyan citizen living in the DRC who fell ill there and was treated at several health facilities.
• He travelled by road to Kampala, Uganda, then flew to Nairobi, arriving on 3 October.
• He was isolated in hospital, tested positive and died on 5 October. WHO confirmed the case on 6 October.
• Kenya has traced 28 contacts, including family members and health workers, and is tracing passengers and crew on the flight. A suspected case in Wajir County tested negative on 8 October.

Why it is hard to stop

At the end of September about a third of confirmed patients (34%) were being treated in facilities not set up for Ebola, and dedicated treatment centres were short of beds. Attacks on response workers and misinformation in Beni and Butembo have made people wary of the teams. "We will only bring this outbreak under control once the last chain of transmission has been broken," said Africa CDC director-general Jean Kaseya. The 2018 to 2020 outbreak in the DRC, caused by a different Ebola species, killed nearly 2,300 people; this one has already killed more.

What it means for Pakistan

Pakistan has no reported case. The risk to people here is low, but Pakistani traders, students and aid workers do travel through Nairobi and Kampala. Anyone back from eastern DRC, Uganda or Kenya who develops fever, vomiting, diarrhoea or unexplained bleeding within 21 days should tell a doctor about the trip before going to a crowded clinic. Ebola spreads through contact with the body fluids of a sick person, not through the air.

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