Ebola: One killed in Kenya, the first case ever recorded in the country

O kenyan Health Minister Aden Duale stated that the Kenyan citizen who arrived in the country on Saturday from DRCongo had been isolated and treated in a hospital in Nairobi.

The patient living in DRCongo presented a positive result for the Ebola virus after developing symptoms associated with hemorrhagic fever.

The health authorities have put the country on high alert and are monitoring the possibility of new cases.

Duale also said that 28 contacts were identified, including family members and healthcare professionals who cared for the patient and 23 other passengers were also being located on the same flight from Uganda.

Contacts will remain in isolation for 21 days and will be released after presenting negative results for the virus, said Kenyan ministry director Patrick Amoth.

The patient will be buried within 24 hours, according to the recommended public safety protocols.

The DRC is facing the 17th Ebola epidemic, which in a few months has become the most deadly ever in this country of Central Africa.

To date, 8,300 cases have been recorded, of which more than 4,000 have been killed, according to the most recent data from the Congolese authorities.

Kenya is the fourth country to record an Ebola case in the current epidemic, which was declared in eastern DRC in mid-May.

Uganda has registered 20 cases and France one.

Before Kenya reported its case, there have been no active cases outside the DRC since Uganda declared the end of the epidemic in the country since the end of August.

On Monday, the Medical Without Borders (MSF) organization warned of a “worried epidemic” of Ebola cases in North Kivu, east of DRCongo, on the border with Uganda, where, according to the organization, about 40% of the new cases are now registered.

The Ebola epidemic is not retreating, but “moving,” the MSF said.

The World Health Organization warned that it could become the deadliest, as it continues to overcome efforts to track it down and contain it.

The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment, and trials of vaccines and treatments are under way in the province of Ituri, DRCongo, the epicenter of the epidemic.