Kenya confirmed four additional cases of Bundibugyo Ebola, bringing its total to seven, including one death; the new patients—a relative of the first case and three health workers—were already in quarantine.
The Ministry of Health announced the infections on Saturday, October 17, saying the health workers had treated the country’s first patient in hospital. All four developed fever while under quarantine and were isolated before tests confirmed the virus; they are receiving supportive care. The relative had been quarantined since October 6, while the health workers had been under quarantine since October 9.
Kenya’s first patient, a man who had been living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, arrived in Nairobi via Uganda on October 3 and died two days later. The newer infections are among the first known Ebola transmissions within Kenya, but the ministry said it had found no evidence of spread in the wider community. Authorities said they had traced and quarantined 128 of 130 identified contacts, with efforts continuing to find the remaining two.
The outbreak is part of a wider Bundibugyo Ebola emergency linked to the DRC, where reported cases and deaths have climbed above 9,000 and 4,300, respectively. Kenya’s count stood at seven in the latest public update available on Sunday, October 18; officials continue contact tracing and monitoring as quarantined contacts complete their observation period.