In Kenya, a second patient diagnosed with Ebola has died during the country’s first-ever outbreak of the disease.
The Kenyan Ministry of Health reported this, the BBC says.
The 65-year-old woman was a close relative of the first person to die — a man who arrived from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Her symptoms appeared on 13 October while she was in quarantine. The first fatality was recorded on 5 October: a man who fell ill back in September, was treated in several hospitals in the DRC, and later arrived in Nairobi.
Seven more patients remain under medical supervision in healthcare facilities. They include three relatives of the first victim, three healthcare workers and a hospital cleaner. Kenya’s Ministry of Health says all the cases belong to a single cluster, and no community transmission of the virus has been detected so far.
The outbreak is being driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain, for which there are currently no approved vaccines or specific treatment, although drug trials are ongoing.
Overall, in Africa, more than four thousand people have died since May, when the Ebola outbreak was confirmed in the DRC, making it the second deadliest in history.
Because of the risk of the infection spreading, the United States has already warned its citizens against travelling to Kenya. Kenya, meanwhile, has introduced tighter controls and digital monitoring for passengers arriving from the DRC and nine other high-risk countries.
Neighbouring countries, including Uganda, Ethiopia and Somalia, have also declared a heightened state of readiness. Uganda has already banned transit through its territory for people travelling from the DRC. In addition, the first case of Ebola has also been recorded in Nigeria: local authorities are investigating whether the patient may have crossed paths with Kenya’s first patient while transiting through an airport in Uganda.