Kenya Ebola cases rise to seven, ministry says

Kenya's Ebola caseload has risen to seven after the Ministry of Health confirmed four new infections on Saturday, including a close male relative of the first person to die and three healthcare workers who treated him.

The ministry said the four developed fever, were isolated immediately and later tested positive. It said the relative had been in quarantine since October 6, while the healthcare workers — two men aged 29 and 35 and a 32-year-old woman — had been quarantined since October 9.

The first known patient, described as a 40-year-old Kenyan businessman who had lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo, died in Nairobi on October 5 after travelling from DRC through Uganda and into Kenya on October 3. Kenya had not previously reported an Ebola case before the case was detected on October 6.

The ministry said the risk to the general public remained low and that there was no evidence of community transmission. It said 128 of 130 contacts had been traced and placed in quarantine.

The ministry had announced a third case on Friday, a 65-year-old female relative receiving treatment. Another relative, a 39-year-old man, had tested positive two days earlier and was also in quarantine.

DRC declared its 17th Ebola outbreak in May. Congolese health authorities have reported 9,066 infections and 4,381 deaths since the emergence in DRC of the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no vaccine or specific treatment. Uganda recorded 20 infections and two deaths before being declared Ebola-free in August.