Kenya has confirmed its first case of Ebola after a Kenyan national who had recently travelled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) died in Nairobi.
Health Secretary Aden Duale said the man had lived in the DRC for seven years and had been unwell for about a month before travelling by road to Uganda and later flying to Nairobi on Saturday.
The patient died in Nairobi, prompting Kenyan authorities to launch an urgent response aimed at preventing the virus from spreading within the country.
President William Ruto said at least eight family members of the deceased and 21 healthcare workers had been placed in quarantine.
Duale said 28 contacts, including relatives and healthcare workers who treated the patient had initially been identified.
Authorities were also tracing 23 passengers and four crew members who were on the same flight from Uganda to Nairobi.
Kenyan Health Ministry director-general Patrick Amoth said those identified as contacts would remain in isolation for 21 days and would be released if they tested negative for Ebola.
Uganda which borders both Kenya and the DRC, reported 20 Ebola cases and two deaths earlier this year but was declared Ebola-free in August.
The latest outbreak in the DRC, the country’s 17th, was officially declared on 15 May and has spread across seven provinces.
More than 4 000 people have died and confirmed cases have surpassed 8 300 according to figures released by the DRC government.
The outbreak has become the deadliest Ebola epidemic recorded in the DRC with the World Health Organization warning that the situation remains serious.
The WHO has said the epidemic is “far from over” and could exceed the scale of the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which killed more than 11,000 people, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Despite the confirmed case in Kenya, the United Nations has advised against imposing travel or trade restrictions on Kenya, the DRC or Uganda.
Kenyan authorities are continuing to monitor people who may have come into contact with the deceased as they seek to prevent local transmission of the virus.
