Kenya records second Ebola case as outbreak in Congo keeps growing

Kenya has recorded its second case of Ebola, the health ministry said on Wednesday, adding there was “no evidence” of any large-scale transmission of the virus.

The country reported its first-ever Ebola death last week after a man who had been living in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) died after returning to Kenya. The second patient is a close relative of the deceased, the ministry confirmed.

The epicentre of the outbreak is Congo’s Ituri Province, but Uganda and Kenya have also reported cases.

“The Ministry of Health confirms a second case of Ebola,” it said in a statement, adding the 39-year-old man was a close family member of the first victim and already in quarantine and being monitored when the virus was detected. These are the first two cases of Ebola ever reported in the country, including all the previous outbreaks.

The patient was isolated “as soon as he developed fever, fatigue and joint pains”, the ministry said, before being tested and found positive for the virus.

It emphasised that such early detection “limits the chance of passing the virus to others”, and that “there is no evidence of spread in the wider community”.

The ministry said it had traced 113 of the 128 people the patient identified as close contacts.

Kenya’s first victim was a national, who fell ill around a month ago and had been treated in the DRC, before travelling overland to the Ugandan capital, Kampala, and flying into Nairobi on 3 October.

He was hospitalised in Nairobi, but later died on 5 October, according to Health Minister Aden Duale.

Cases grow further in Congo

More than 4,000 people have died in Congo since the country declared the outbreak in May.

Public health authorities have confirmed over 9,000 cases and 899 patients are hospitalised in isolation as of 13 October.

The most affected province is Ituri, where 6,734 cases, including 3,177 deaths, have been reported.

As cases in Congo continue to rise, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) warns that the outbreak remains a public health emergency of international concern and the response is particularly challenging in remote and hard-to-reach areas.

The WHO also noted that contact follow-up is “a major operational pressure” and has fallen below the targets in recent weeks.

The current outbreak is caused by Bundibugyo virus, for which no licensed vaccines or specific treatments are currently available.

Frontline workers in Congo are being vaccinated with Ervebo — the only licensed Ebola vaccine targeting other strains.

The vaccine was “highly effective” against Ebola Zaire virus in the past, but it is not yet known whether it can provide “meaningful protection” against Bundibugyo disease, which is still spreading in the DRC, the United Nations said in a press release.

The risk of importation into Europe from the outbreak areas remains very low, according to the ECDC.

“While sporadic importations cannot be excluded, the probability of multiple independent importations is very low, even in a pessimistic scenario whereby incidence continues to rise in the affected regions,” the agency wrote on its website.