Kenya confirms second Ebola case in relative of first patient — BBC News

Kenya has confirmed a second case of Ebola virus infection. The patient is a 39-year-old man, a close relative of the first patient, who died after arriving in the country from the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to BBC News, the man was already in quarantine when he fell ill on Tuesday.

Both cases are linked

Kenya's Ministry of Health said that early detection of the disease increased the patient's chances of recovery and limited the risk of transmitting the virus to other people. The ministry stressed that both cases are linked and that there is no evidence of the infection spreading among the wider community. The public was urged to remain calm while staying vigilant.

The first patient, a 40-year-old Kenyan citizen, died on October 5. He was diagnosed with Ebola shortly after being admitted to a hospital in Nairobi. The man was travelling from the DRC through Uganda to Kenya, but his illness was not detected during the journey.

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Contact tracing

After the first patient's death, medical workers identified 128 people who had been in contact with him. As of Tuesday, 113 of them had been found, and 108 people were in quarantine in Kenya. The search for the remaining 15 contacts is ongoing.

The incubation period for Ebola ranges from two to 21 days, so people exposed to the virus may fall ill only after several weeks. The virus is transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids, including blood or vomit.

The outbreak in the DRC, which began in May, is caused by the relatively rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. There is no approved vaccine or treatment against it, although trials are ongoing. More than 4,000 people have died from Ebola in the DRC this year.