Kenya has recorded its first case of Ebola, the Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday, October 6, a development likely to raise fears of wider transmission.
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said the patient had come from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), passing through Uganda before reaching Nairobi. “The Ministry of Health wishes to inform members of the public that it has confirmed the first imported case of Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease,” he said.
According to Duale, the man had lived in the DRC for seven years. He fell sick about a month ago and was treated at a number of hospitals there. He then travelled by road to Uganda on his way back to Kenya.
From there, he boarded a Jumbo Jet flight with 23 passengers on board, landing at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) at 1:10 pm on Saturday, October 3. The CS said he went through the routine public health screening at the airport and then cleared immigration.
Relatives and friends picked him up from JKIA in a Toyota Fielder and drove him straight to Nairobi Hospital, where he was placed in an isolation room right away.
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