Kenya's eighth case confirmed

A forty-nine-year-old person in quarantine who attended to Kenya's first Ebola patient has tested positive, according to Health Ministry director-general Patrick Amoth.

First case arrived in early October

Kenya's first Ebola patient was a forty-year-old man who travelled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo through Uganda, arriving on October three. He died on October five.

Family and health workers infected

Three of the first patient's close relatives have tested positive for Ebola. Three health workers have also tested positive. Six other patients are stable after receiving treatment.

Congo's outbreak deadliest on record

The disease has killed at least four thousand people in Congo since May in what has become the country's deadliest outbreak. The Bundibugyo virus causing it has no approved vaccine or treatment.

Outbreak spreads across Congo

The fastest-growing Ebola outbreak reached an eighth province on Sunday. Sixty-six health zones have been affected since the start of the outbreak. Ituri province remains the epicentre with almost three quarters of confirmed cases.

Community resistance slowing response

World Health Organization regional director Mohamed Yakub Janabi said health officials were trying to convince infected people to seek medical assistance. Epidemiologist Serge Ngalebato said Ebola is a community disease and cooperation is essential.

“Ebola is a community disease. If the community does not cooperate, it will be very difficult.”

Kenya strengthens border controls

Kenya has strengthened screening measures at borders and set up an emergency hotline for suspected Ebola patients. A designated gate at Nairobi's main airport handles flights from ten countries at the outbreak's centre.