Kenya records 1st Ebola death after man travels between several countries
The patient went through a health screening during his journey, officials said.
Kenyan health officials confirmed on Tuesday the country's first Ebola death as an outbreak in the nearby Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to spread.
The person was a Kenyan man who had been living in the DRC for the last seven years, Aden Duale, Kenya's cabinet secretary of health, said in a press conference.
The Ministry of Health told ABC News the patient was 40 years old and traveled from Buta, a city in the northwestern DRC.
Duale said the patient fell ill about a month ago and was treated in several hospitals while in the DRC. He traveled from the DRC to Kampala, the capital of neighboring Uganda, by road, then boarded a Jambo Jet flight, arriving in Kenyan capital Nairobi last Saturday, Oct. 3.
The patient underwent a public health screening at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and was taken by a friend to Nairobi Hospital, where he was isolated and later transferred to the East Wing Isolation Facility.
Duale said the patient had symptoms including fever, chills, fatigue, weakness, muscle pain, sore throat and painful swallowing. Doctors collected a sample from the patient, which was positive for Ebola and specifically Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of Ebola behind the current DRC outbreak for which there are no vaccines and no treatments.
Dr. Patrick Amoth, director general for health in Kenya's Ministry of Health, said during the briefing that officials believe the patient knew he was ill and reached out to friends and relatives to transport him from the airport to the hospital directly.
"It is potentially possible that some of the medications that he was taking could be able to mask some of the symptoms and therefore give a false positive screening, meaning you could pass through the [airport screening system] because you have taken a medicine, say for example to lower your temperature," Amoth said. "We believe that he knew that he was unwell."
Duale said the patient was given supportive treatment but passed away on Monday evening.
"We take this opportunity to pass our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the departed. Arrangement for safe and dignified burial of the deceased are ongoing, and the burial is planned for later today in line with the Ebola safe and dignified public health protocols," Duale said.
Duale said that 28 contacts of the patient, including family members and healthcare workers who attended to him, have been identified. Health officials are attempting to contact 23 more passengers and four crew members who were on the flight with the patient, and arrangements for quarantine among those at risk have been prepared.
"I wish to assure the public not to panic as all systems are in place to mitigate the spread of the disease," Duale said. "The public is urged to continue with the frequent hand washing or use of alcoholic hand [wipes] and avoid close contact with sick people coming from countries reporting active transmission of Ebola disease."
Amoth said Kenyan health officials are collaborating with immediate neighbors and partners including the neighboring country of Uganda, as well as the WHO.
"You [are not] able to put a wall between Uganda and [the DRC], between Kenya and Uganda, to prevent the entry of a pathogen," he said. "Therefore, we continue to maintain a heightened state of alert, and what is important for us is to be able to pick [up] the disease when it arrives within our borders, and ensure that we prevent community transmission."
Irene Bosire, Kenya deputy director of programs for the humanitarian nonprofit International Rescue Committee, said in a statement that with confirmation of the first imported Ebola case in Kenya, focus has shifted from preparedness to response.
"The IRC is working closely with national and county governments, following Kenya's Ebola preparedness and response plan," Bosire said. "We are supporting screening activities to track the disease, trace people who have been in contact with the patient to stop it spreading, share clear information with communities, and provide supplies to prevent infection."
As of Oct. 3, 8,854 cases of Ebola and 4,114 deaths have been confirmed, according to the Congo Ministry of Health, with 824 patients in isolation.
The case fatality rate currently stands at 48.2% while contact tracing has improved since the summer to 73.8%, the ministry noted.