Kenya records third Ebola case, linked to first patient who died

Nairobi says 65-year-old female patient in quarantine with Bundibugyo strain; no signs of community transmission.

Kenya has recorded its third case of the Bundibugyo virus disease – a strain of Ebola that has killed thousands of people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – 10 days after reporting its first case and death in Nairobi.

The latest confirmed case – a 65-year-old woman – was a “primary contact and a close relative of the first and second cases”, Kenya’s Health Ministry said in a statement on Friday, adding that the patient has been in quarantine since October 6.

After developing symptoms, she was isolated and then tested positive for the virus, it added in a statement.

“Once she developed fever, sore throat and malaise, she was isolated and specimen collected for testing. She tested positive for Ebola,” the Health Ministry said. “She was diagnosed early and is currently receiving ⁠⁠supportive care improving her ⁠⁠chances of recovery.”

Kenya’s cases are linked to the Ebola epidemic in the DRC, which is the second-largest on record globally ⁠ ⁠with more than 9,000 cases and over 4,300 deaths since it was officially detected in May.

Kenya’s ⁠⁠first case emerged last ⁠⁠week after a Kenyan man, who had been ill in the DRC about a month before travelling by road ‌‌to Uganda, flew to Nairobi on October 3, where a relative drove him to ‌‌the ‌‌hospital. He died on October 5.

In its statement on X, the Health Ministry moved to reassure the public that there was no community spread of the disease and that the risk to the Kenyan public remained low.

Out of 130 contacts listed, 127 had been traced and were in quarantine, it said.

Efforts to control the spread of the Ebola outbreak have been complicated because the Bundibugyo strain has no licensed vaccine. Research is under way to develop one or more vaccines that work against the strain and some of these vaccines are already in the early phases of testing in humans.

Transparency demands over Ebola response funds

The new case in Kenya was reported as Africa’s ‌‌top public health body and Congolese health authorities called ⁠⁠for greater transparency in how Ebola response funds are used.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said financial information provided by aid organisations indicated that ⁠⁠more than $700m of donor money was unaccounted for.

Dr Jean Kaseya, the director general of ‌‌the Africa CDC, told the Reuters news agency that international donors disbursed about $962m to organisations ⁠⁠implementing Ebola response activities in DRC, rather ⁠⁠than to the government.

Kaseya said those organisations reported receiving $228m, of which $127m had ⁠⁠been spent and roughly $100m remained available.

But he said it was too early to speak of embezzlement.

In a post on X, Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba warned aid groups were required to provide details on funding ‌‌sources to his ministry or risk being barred from working ‌‌in ‌‌DRC and blacklisted across Africa.

Meanwhile, on the ground in the DRC, Ebola cases have been detected in a new province bordering the Central African Republic, two health officials told Reuters on Thursday.

The two cases were confirmed in North Ubangi, the eighth Congolese province affected by the Bundibugyo outbreak, the officials said. Congolese authorities have not yet officially announced the outbreak has spread to North Ubangi.