Third Ebola case confirmed in Kenya

Kenya's health ministry announced on Friday that the country has recorded a third case of Ebola. The patient, a 65-year-old woman related to the first two patients, was placed in quarantine on October 6, the date of the confirmation of the first infection in the country. After the appearance of symptoms, including fever, sore throat, and general malaise, she was isolated and tested positive for the virus. She is currently receiving care, according to health authorities, who estimate that early detection increases her chances of recovery and contributes to limiting the risk of transmission.

First case traced to DRC

The first recorded case was that of a Kenyan citizen residing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), who died on October 5 in a hospital in Nairobi. He fell ill approximately a month earlier in the DRC and traveled through Kampala, Uganda, before taking a flight to Nairobi on October 3. A second case, also a family member of the first patient, was confirmed on Wednesday while the patient was in quarantine. The monitoring of exposed individuals continues.

Quarantine efforts nearly complete

Out of the 130 contacts identified around the first patient, 127 have been located and placed in quarantine, accounting for 97.7% of the total. Authorities are still trying to locate the remaining three individuals. The ministry states that no community transmission has been detected and that the risk to the population remains low. This situation occurs in the context of a new Ebola outbreak in the DRC, where the epidemic declared in May has resulted in 4,381 deaths out of 9,066 cases recorded, according to Congolese health authorities.

Uganda declared Ebola-free

Neighboring Uganda, which had reported 20 infections and two deaths, has been declared free of Ebola by the World Health Organization (WHO) by the end of August. The current outbreak is linked to the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which no approved vaccine or specific treatment is currently available.