Kenya confirms eighth Ebola case as regional outbreak spreads | Ebola News

Kenyan health authorities say the latest patient was likely exposed to the country’s first case of Ebola.

Kenyan health authorities say an eighth case of Ebola has been detected in the East African country.

Health Director General Patrick Amoth told Kenyan Citizen TV that of the 38 people tested on Sunday, one had returned a positive result.

“He is a 49-year-old man who is not a healthcare professional. He developed a fever, headache and muscle pain,” he said.

Amoth said the man, who worked as a caretaker cleaning utensils and linens, was likely exposed to Kenya’s first case of Ebola, discovered earlier this month.

He developed symptoms on Saturday, was quarantined and tested for the virus, a health ministry source said.

The ministry reported four new cases on Saturday, three of which were health workers who treated the country’s first Ebola patient, a man who traveled from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to Nairobi and died in a Nairobi hospital on October 5.

In a post on X, the ministry said the fourth person was linked to the deceased patient.

Kenya is on heightened alert as the Ebola outbreak spread across the border from the DRC. The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is no vaccine or specific treatment.

The DRC has recorded at least 9,400 cases, including more than 4,500 deaths, during the deadliest outbreak in the country’s history, which began in May.

The eastern DRC province of Ituri remains the epicenter of the disease, accounting for nearly three-quarters of confirmed cases, according to the most recent government data. He announced on Sunday that the virus had reached an eighth province, North Oubangui.

The official ACP news agency reported Sunday that authorities in North Kivu province, where the World Health Organization said significant transmission continues, imposed a one-week ban starting Monday on people entering the province from Ituri, in a bid to slow the spread.

Other measures are expected to be introduced, including restrictions on the number of passengers in cars and motorbikes and the suspension of large public gatherings.

Neighboring Uganda recorded 20 confirmed cases, including 15 imported from the DRC, and two deaths, before being declared Ebola-free in August.