Kenya records third Ebola case in the country

NAIROBI: Kenya has recorded its third case of Ebola, a close relative of the country's first two Ebola cases, the health ministry said on Friday.

The country had not reported a single case of the contagious virus until last week, after a Kenyan man who had been living in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) died after returning to Kenya.

Just over a week later a second man, a relative of the first, also tested positive for the virus while in quarantine.

The DRC declared its 17th Ebola outbreak in May. The deadly disease has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.

The 65-year-old woman was a "primary contact and a close relative of the first and second cases", the ministry said in a statement, adding that she had been in quarantine since October 6.

After developing symptoms, including "fever, sore throat and malaise", she was isolated and tested positive for the virus.

The ministry emphasised that the risk to the public "remains low" and there was "no evidence of community transmission."

It said of 130 contacts, 127 had been traced and were in quarantine, with efforts "ongoing to trace and quarantine the three remaining contacts."

On Wednesday, the ministry confirmed its second case, a 39-year-old relative of the first victim, stating he was in isolation and there was "no evidence" of any large-scale transmission of the virus.

The country has never previously reported a case.

Neighbouring Uganda recorded 20 people infected, almost all of whom had travelled from the neighbouring DRC, and two deaths, before being declared Ebola-free in August.

Kenya's first victim was a national, who has not been named but was referred to as a 40-year-old businessman.

He 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 October 3.

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

According to Congolese health authorities, the outbreak has infected 9,066 people so far and caused 4,381 deaths since the emergence in the DRC of the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, for which there is still neither a vaccine nor a specific treatment.