Kenya confirms four new Ebola cases, including three health workers

Kenya has confirmed four new cases of Ebola, including three health workers who treated the country’s first patient, bringing the total number of infections to seven, according to the Health Ministry and Anadolu Agency.

“The Ministry of Health confirms four new cases of Ebola (Bundibugyo Virus Disease). This brings the total number of confirmed cases to seven including the deceased first case,” Health Director General Patrick Amoth said in a statement.

The three health workers — two men aged 29 and 35 and a 32-year-old woman — had attended to the first patient between Oct. 3 and 4. The fourth patient is a male relative of the first person to die from the disease, who had been quarantined since Oct. 6, the ministry said.

All four developed a fever while in quarantine and were immediately isolated. Laboratory tests confirmed they had contracted the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola.

The National Virology Reference Laboratory and the Kenya Medical Research Institute confirmed the infections. The patients are receiving supportive treatment from trained health workers. The ministry said the second and third patients were stable and responding well to care.

Health authorities said identifying all four infections among people already in quarantine had helped reduce the risk of further transmission. Of 130 identified contacts, 128, or 98.5%, had been traced and placed under quarantine, while efforts continued to locate the remaining two.

Amoth said there was no evidence of community transmission and that the risk to the general public remained low. The ministry is also monitoring four relatives who cared for the first patient during his hospital stay.

Kenya has not imposed restrictions on travel, trade or public gatherings. Authorities said the country remains open for business.

The first confirmed patient had been living in the Democratic Republic of Congo before travelling through Uganda and arriving in Nairobi on Oct. 3. He died two days later.

The new infections have raised concerns about the potential spread of Ebola across East Africa, particularly given the movement of people between Kenya, Uganda and Congo.

Congo health authorities had reported more than 9,000 Ebola infections and over 4,000 deaths as of Oct. 14, making it the second-largest Ebola epidemic on record, according to figures attributed to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Health authorities across the region continue to monitor the risk of cross-border transmission as Kenya steps up contact tracing and surveillance to contain the infections.