Kenya’s first confirmed Ebola patient has died, with health authorities tracing dozens of people who may have been exposed to the virus after he arrived from Uganda.
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said the patient travelled from Kampala to Nairobi on Jambojet flight 8523 and underwent routine public health screening at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) before being taken to Nairobi Hospital.
He was initially isolated in the hospital’s emergency department before being transferred to an isolation facility in the East Wing that had previously been used during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Duale, the patient developed fever, severe fatigue and weakness, muscle pain, painful swallowing, sore throat and bleeding under the skin at an injection site.
Doctors initially suspected a viral haemorrhagic fever and collected samples for testing. The samples later tested positive for Ebola.
Despite receiving supportive treatment, the patient died at 11:30 p.m. on Monday, Duale said.
His burial is scheduled for Tuesday under public health protocols designed to prevent further transmission of the virus. Kenya’s Ministry of Health has so far identified 28 people who had direct contact with the deceased. Authorities are also tracing 23 passengers and four crew members who travelled on the same flight from Kampala to Nairobi.
Duale said preparations were underway to quarantine people considered to be at risk while health officials continue monitoring those identified through contact tracing.
The case has prompted heightened surveillance as Kenyan health authorities work to determine whether the virus spread beyond the initial patient and contacts.
