Kenya has confirmed a second case of Ebola virus disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus, linked to the country’s initial case, with no evidence of wider community transmission.
The Director-General for Health at the Ministry of Health, Patrick Amoth, disclosed the development, saying the country had recorded two confirmed cases and one death. “Kenya has now recorded two confirmed cases and one death,” Amoth said.
The latest patient, a 39-year-old man, is a close family contact of the first case and had already been placed under mandatory quarantine with daily medical surveillance.
According to the ministry, the patient developed fever, fatigue and joint pain, prompting the quarantine response team to isolate him and collect clinical samples for laboratory testing.
Tests conducted at the National Virology Reference Laboratory and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) facility returned positive results, confirming the infection.
In a statement issued in Nairobi, the ministry said the patient had been transferred to a designated treatment center, where trained medical teams were providing supportive care.
“Early supportive care improves his chances of recovery, while isolating him at the first sign of symptoms limits the risk of transmitting the virus to others. This is the response working as designed,” the ministry said.
The second case follows Kenya’s confirmation of its first Ebola infection on Oct. 6, linked to an ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The first patient, a Kenyan citizen who had lived in the DRC for seven years, recently returned to Kenya through regional transit routes.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the patient had sought medical attention at healthcare facilities in the DRC before traveling by road on Oct. 2 through Beni to Kampala, Uganda.
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On Oct. 3, he boarded a commercial flight operated by Jambojet to Nairobi, where he underwent routine health screening upon arrival at the airport.
A family member subsequently took him to Nairobi Hospital, where medical personnel immediately placed him in isolation.
Despite receiving supportive care, the patient died on Oct. 5 and was buried the following day in accordance with the country’s safe and dignified burial protocols for viral hemorrhagic fevers.
