OMM Newsroom
Kenya’s Ministry of Health said late Friday that the country had recorded its second death from Ebola. The outbreak, which began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, continues to spread across Africa.
The 65-year-old woman developed symptoms while in quarantine. According to the ministry, she was a close relative of a Kenyan man who died of the disease earlier this month.
“The death toll among the nine confirmed cases has risen to two. The remaining seven patients are receiving treatment at two isolation facilities,” the ministry said. It also noted that there was no evidence of community transmission in the country.
Kenya’s first case was detected in a man who arrived in Nairobi from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He died at a hospital in the capital on October 5. Authorities then identified 135 of his contacts and placed all of them in quarantine. The woman who died on Friday was among those who had direct contact with him.
The Ebola outbreak has so far been recorded in four African countries — the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria. It is the most geographically widespread Ebola outbreak recorded on the continent to date, spanning eastern, central and western Africa.
Nigeria became the fourth African country to confirm an Ebola case on Tuesday. As the patient had not travelled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, authorities are trying to determine how the person contracted the virus.
Earlier this week, the U.S. State Department raised its travel advisory level for Kenya, urging Americans to reconsider travel because of health risks.
No approved treatment for “Bundibugyo” strain
The current “Bundibugyo” strain of Ebola has infected about 10,000 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone and caused more than 4,600 deaths.
There is currently no approved treatment or vaccine for this rare strain. The disease spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, and only people with symptoms can transmit the virus. Ebola can cause fever, vomiting and diarrhea, and, in severe cases, internal and external bleeding.
