Kenya, which had never recorded Ebola before this autumn, now has nine confirmed patients. Health officials insist the situation is contained: all of them belong to a single chain of infection that starts with one traveller.
Monday’s confirmation concerns a relative of that traveller, a man aged 24. He was already in quarantine when symptoms appeared, so he was isolated and treated straight away. Patrick Amoth, the ministry’s most senior health official, told reporters the virus had not been seen spreading beyond that circle. The first patient had come from the Democratic Republic of Congo via Uganda and died shortly after reaching Kenya; the others infected are four family members, three people who treated him and a cleaner at the hospital.
According to Amoth, the eight survivors are stable and improving. Of 135 contacts identified so far, 134 are in quarantine. Kenya has received 500 doses of medicines for treatment, set up a separate laboratory for Ebola samples at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi and sent protective gear, test kits and thermometers to 28 counties rated high or very high risk. People isolated since 6 October can leave on 25 October, once their 21 days pass without fever or other signs.
Not everyone is reassured. Kenya’s doctors’ union has complained of understaffed border posts and gaps at the main airport, and the United States has advised its citizens not to travel to the country. The government says there are no limits on travel, trade or gatherings, but arrivals from ten high-risk countries must fill in a digital health form.
The wider picture is worrying. This outbreak is driven by the rare Bundibugyo variant, for which no licensed vaccine exists yet. Congo has counted more than 9,500 cases and over 4,000 deaths since May, and on Tuesday Nigeria reported its first case, a woman who had flown into Abuja from Uganda.
