Kenya reports 8th Ebola case as Congo outbreak expands across borders

Ebola outbreak

Kenya confirmed its eighth Ebola case on Sunday after another person tested positive while in quarantine. Meanwhile, the outbreak in Congo spread to an eighth province, raising concerns over further cross-border transmission across the region.Kenya’s director-general for health, Patrick Amoth, said that a 49-year-old patient attendant had tested positive while in quarantine after being identified as a contact of the country’s first case."Today, 38 people were tested, and one tested positive for Ebola," Amoth said in an interview with Kenya’s Citizen TV."He is a 49-year-old man who is not a healthcare worker. He developed fever, headache and muscle pain."According to Reuters, the man had attended to Kenya’s first Ebola patient, a 40-year-old Kenyan who travelled from DR Congo through Uganda and arrived in Kenya on October 3. The patient died at a Nairobi hospital on October 5.Amoth said the latest patient had cleaned utensils and linens and was probably exposed to the first case. A health ministry source said he developed symptoms on Saturday and was isolated before testing positive on Sunday.

Three close relatives of the first patient and three health workers have also tested positive. Authorities identified around 130 contacts following the initial death, with 128 remaining in quarantine. Six other patients were reported to be stable after receiving supportive treatment.Meanwhile, DR Congo’s health ministry confirmed two cases, including one death, in Nord-Ubangi province, which borders the Central African Republic.

The development marks the outbreak’s spread to an eighth province, the Associated Press (AP) reported.Authorities have recorded at least 9,400 cases and more than 4,500 deaths since the outbreak was declared in mid-May, making it the deadliest Ebola outbreak in the country’s history."We see pockets of Ebola generally going down, but unfortunately geographically it’s spreading out," World Health Organization Regional Director for Africa Mohamed Yakub Janabi told AP.Janabi identified reluctance among infected people to seek medical care as a major challenge, with some deaths occurring in communities outside health facilities."Ebola is a community disease. If the community does not cooperate, it will be very difficult," epidemiologist Serge Ngalebato said.Kenya has strengthened border screening, designated a gate at Nairobi’s main airport for flights from 10 high-risk countries and established an emergency hotline. Tanzania has also tightened screening and introduced 21-day monitoring for travellers from high-risk countries.