US urges citizens to ‘reconsider’ travel to Kenya after Ebola cases

The United States on Tuesday warned its citizens against travel to Kenya, raising its travel advisory after the country reported an eighth Ebola case.

In the east African country’s first-ever case of the virus, a Kenyan citizen living in the Democratic Republic of Congo — where a major outbreak since May has killed more than 4,000 people — tested positive after returning home in early October.

There have since been seven further cases, most in people with a close connection to the first victim, who died in the capital Nairobi on October 5.

“The level was changed from Level 2 to Level 3 due to health risks,” the US embassy in Kenya said in a statement, a day after the Department of State issued renewed travel advice for its citizens.

“Reconsider travel in Kenya due to risk of health, crime, kidnapping, terrorism, unrest and traffic safety. Some areas have increased risk,” it said.

Kenya reported the first Ebola case on October 6 in a businessman in his forties, who lived in the DRC.

He travelled by car and plane via Uganda to Kenya, where he died.

The other seven cases in Kenya have been relatives of the first patient, health workers who treated him and a member of the medical support staff.

Kenya’s health ministry has said they are in quarantine and in stable condition.

Last week, health authorities reported that they had identified 130 contacts, 128 of whom have been traced and are in quarantine.

In the DRC, the epidemic has surpassed 9,000 cases, with 4,381 deaths, according to Congolese health authorities.