Kenya has registered its second Ebola death. The country's Ministry of Health announced that a 65-year-old woman who was in quarantine passed away from the disease on Friday morning.
Details of the 65-Year-Old Woman's Death
This woman has been identified as a close relative of a man from Kenya who also died from Ebola earlier this month. The Ministry of Health stated, "Unfortunately, she passed away this morning due to this disease." The woman showed symptoms of the disease 10 days ago and was under supportive care in an infectious disease unit in Nairobi.
Medical personnel "did everything they could to save her life," and the Ministry of Health announced that her family has been informed and arrangements will be made for a safe and respectful burial with her relatives.
Efforts to Control the Spread of the Disease
Kenya announced its first Ebola case on October 6. A 40-year-old man living in the Democratic Republic of Congo traveled to Kenya and entered the country on October 3. He tested positive for the disease on October 5 and died the same day.
Of the 135 people identified as contacts of this patient, 118 have been quarantined, and eight of them tested positive. These individuals include four health workers and four close family members. The recent death likely occurred among these quarantined individuals. The Ministry of Health reported that she showed symptoms of the disease on October 13.
The remaining seven cases are clustered together, and no signs of community spread have been observed. Additionally, recently released genomic tests indicate that the Ebola virus found in the initial patient in Kenya is similar to the virus identified in the first case in Nigeria.
Nigeria has also recently registered its first Ebola case. The wife of a Swiss embassy staff member in Abuja, who returned from Uganda on October 3, has contracted the disease. The Swiss Foreign Ministry has denied reports regarding this patient's travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
African health officials are working to identify the source of the infection. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have suggested that she may have been in contact at the airport with the initial patient in Kenya, who had flown from Uganda on the same day.
Nigeria's Minister of Health, Muhammad Ali Pate, stated that there is no evidence linking the travel of this initial case in Kenya to Nigeria, but the viruses appear to be related. The current Ebola crisis began in May in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has spread to Uganda, Kenya, and Nigeria.
The deadly Bundibugyo strain has no specific vaccine or treatment. To date, the number of confirmed cases has exceeded 9,700, and the death toll has reached 4,690.
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