Kenya has reported its first-ever Ebola death, the health minister announced on Tuesday, as the disease continues to spread rapidly through the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the outbreak was announced in May.
This is the 17th outbreak of the highly infectious, often deadly disease in the DRC. As of 2 October, 4,082 people had died out of 8,463 confirmed cases in the country since the emergence the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, for which there is still no vaccine nor specific treatment.
A Kenyan man who had been living in the DRC for seven years died after returning to Kenya, the Kenyan health minister Aden Duale told reporters.
The man, who has not been named, had been treated in the DRC after falling ill about a month ago. He then travelled overland to the Ugandan capital, Kampala, before flying to Nairobi on 3 October.
Kenya has previously never reported a case of Ebola, but neighbouring Uganda recorded 20 – almost all people who had travelled from the DRC – and two deaths, before being declared Ebola-free in August.
Duale said the man was taken by a relative and a friend from Nairobi’s international airport to Nairobi hospital, where he was immediately isolated, suffering from “fever, chills, intense fatigue, weakness, muscle pain, painful swallowing, sore throat and bleeding under the skin at the injection sites”.
He said the man was subsequently screened and confirmed positive for the virus, but “regrettably passed on last night at around 1130” in the evening (2030 GMT).
Duale said officials had listed 28 contacts of the deceased, including family members and healthcare workers, but that so far “only one test has turned positive and is the one that we have just discussed”.
He added that authorities were looking for another 23 passengers and four crew members who were on the same flight with the man and that “arrangements” for quarantine for those at risk had been prepared. “I wish to assure the public not to panic, as all systems are in place to mitigate the spread of the disease,” he said.
Duale said a “safe and dignified burial” of the man had been planned for later in the day, in line with public health standards, but did not give further details.
Kenyans reacted furiously to government plans earlier this year to allow the US to set up an Ebola facility at Laikipia airbase, about 125 miles from Nairobi.
After starting in the DRC’s north-eastern Ituri province, the current outbreak has spread to seven provinces in the country’s north and east.
The response to the virus in the vast central African country has been hindered by instability, including clashes between armed groups, mistrust of authorities – which has led to violence against health workers and other officials – and a lack of resources amid huge cuts in international aid.
The medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières warned on Monday of an “alarming surge” in cases in eastern North Kivu province, which borders Uganda. The province now accounts for 40% of all new Ebola cases, compared with 24% at the end of August, the NGO said.
“It is like fighting a megafire,” said Stephanie Hoffmann, coordinator at MSF’s Ebola treatment centre in the city of Butembo. “Multiple outbreaks are developing at the same time, with varying intensity and in different locations.”
The wider Butembo health zone is home to around 2 million people and only has four Ebola treatment centres, two of which only opened recently, MSF said.
Hoffman said: “Because there are not enough beds available, we are sometimes forced to refer confirmed Ebola patients elsewhere, despite the significant risk this poses to the wider community. In addition, standards of care in some peripheral facilities do not always meet the requirements for Ebola treatment.”
North Kivu is particularly affected by conflict, with 134 violent incidents there in the past month, according to tracking group Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, more than any other province.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
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