First Ebola infection death recorded in Kenya

Kenya’s Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday the country’s first imported case of Ebola virus disease, noting that the patient died a few days after being isolated in a hospital due to complications from the infection.

Kenyan Health Minister Adan Doli said the nation had recorded its first confirmed Ebola case, involving a Kenyan citizen who had been residing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and arrived in Nairobi last Saturday.

He explained that the patient was hospitalized with fever, chills, and subcutaneous bleeding, and was quickly placed in isolation before succumbing to the virus.

The announcement comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners work to support Kenyan authorities and strengthen preparedness for response efforts.

In the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that the UN and its partners continue to support authorities in scaling up the response to the Ebola outbreak.

The pace of transmission has accelerated in recent days in the Ituri and North Kivu provinces, which have accounted for more than 94 percent of new cases in the DRC.

The office and its partners expressed concern over recent mobility restrictions imposed on several major roads in North Kivu as part of containment efforts. While the aim of these restrictions is to limit transmission, they may further hinder humanitarian access, the movement of relief workers, and the continuity of response operations in some areas.

Ebola virus spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals, whether alive or deceased, and can cause fever, vomiting, and diarrhea. In severe cases, it can lead to internal and external bleeding.