Kenya's First Ebola Case
Health minister Aden Duale announced that Kenya has confirmed its first Ebola infection. The individual is a Kenyan national who had been residing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and reached Nairobi on Saturday. That person has now passed away. Speaking at a press conference, Duale added that authorities have traced 28 contacts to date, a group that includes relatives as well as medical personnel.[S1][S2][S3][S4][S5][S6][S7][S8]
The DRC Outbreak
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been confronting the biggest Ebola epidemic it has ever seen, driven by the uncommon Bundibugyo strain. Although the outbreak was officially announced in mid-May, it could have begun several months before that. Containment attempts have not yet succeeded, and the central African nation has tallied over 8,000 infections along with more than 4,000 fatalities.[S1]
Cases later appeared in Uganda, where 20 infections and two deaths were recorded. In August, however, the World Health Organization announced that Uganda was no longer affected by the disease.[S1]
How Ebola Spreads
Ebola is transmitted when a person comes into direct contact with bodily fluids from someone who is infected, whether that individual is alive or has died. Symptoms can include fever, vomiting and diarrhoea, and in serious instances the illness leads to bleeding both inside and outside the body.[S1]
