Kenya confirme un troisième cas d’Ebola chez une proche déjà en quarantaine
A 65-year-old woman fell ill under quarantine and tested positive, while health officials say 127 of 130 contacts have now been traced and isolated.
By
Kwame Asante
In brief
- Kenya’s Ministry of Health has confirmed a third Ebola infection, in a 65-year-old woman.
- She is a close relative of the first two patients and had been quarantined since October 6.
- The infection is the Bundibugyo strain, which has no approved vaccine or treatment.
- The second patient is stable and responding well to supportive care.
Kenya has recorded its third Ebola infection, a woman who developed symptoms while already isolated under quarantine, the Ministry of Health said on Friday, October 16.
According to the ministry, the 65-year-old began showing fever, a sore throat and a general feeling of being unwell during her confinement. Those signs triggered her isolation and the collection of samples, which came back positive at two laboratories: the National Virology Reference Laboratory and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). The infection involves the Bundibugyo virus, the same species behind the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As The Standard reported, she has been moved to an infectious disease unit where she receives supportive care under close monitoring.
Officials framed the fact that she was already under observation as an advantage.
“Having been in quarantine, she was diagnosed early and is currently receiving supportive care, improving her chances of recovery while limiting the risk of further spread of the disease,”
Patrick Amoth, Health Director-General
The second patient, meanwhile, is in stable condition and responding well to treatment, the ministry added.
One family, three infections
All three cases sit inside a single household chain that started with a traveller from DR Congo. The sequence, as reported by the ministry and regional media, runs as follows:
- : a 40-year-old Kenyan man, who had travelled from DR Congo through Uganda without his illness being picked up, flies into Nairobi. A relative takes him to hospital, where he is diagnosed soon after admission.
- : the first patient dies.
- : the 65-year-old woman, a close relative, enters quarantine.
- A Tuesday in mid-October: the second patient, a 39-year-old man and close relative of the first, falls ill while already in quarantine.
- : the woman’s infection is confirmed as Kenya’s third case.
That path is the background to Kenya’s first Ebola patient, whose journey across borders went unnoticed.
How officials are holding the line
The length of quarantine matches the upper end of Ebola’s incubation period, which ranges from two to 21 days. That window explains the ministry’s warning, reported by Kenyans.co.ke, that further cases could still surface among people in quarantine before their monitoring ends.
| Measure | Ministry position |
|---|---|
| Community spread | No evidence; cases linked to one another |
| Travel | No restrictions |
| Trade | No restrictions |
| Public gatherings | No restrictions; country remains open |
Those positions were set out by the ministry when the second case was announced.
A strain without a vaccine
The DR Congo outbreak that seeded these infections began in May and has killed more than 4,000 people there, BBC News reported. Bundibugyo has no approved vaccine or treatment, although trials are under way. Health experts quoted by the BBC say the first patient’s undetected journey shows how limited temperature checks and travellers’ self-declarations can be as screening tools.
For the public, the ministry asks anyone with fever, unusual tiredness, muscle or joint pain, vomiting, diarrhoea or unexplained bleeding to seek care promptly.
Photo: DΛVΞ GΛRCIΛ / Pexels
