Kenya’s First Ebola Death Buried as 57 Contacts Tracked Down
The patient was laid to rest at Lang’ata Cemetery, roughly 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) southwest of Nairobi’s central business district, under strict protocols meant to block transmission of the virus.
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said Kenya is not experiencing an Ebola outbreak, stressing that the sole confirmed infection was imported from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Duale said the number of people identified as contacts of the patient has grown from 55 to 57.
“Of the initial 55 identified contacts, an additional two have been added, bringing the total (number) of contacts to 57. Ten of them have been accounted for, and they are already under a quarantine facility,” he said.
“They’re undergoing daily symptom monitoring at the National Police Service Hospital in Nairobi. Efforts today to trace the remaining contacts have been intensified, and by the time I was coming here, close to about 17 have been traced and they are already at the location,” he added.
The 10 people in quarantine are being watched for symptoms, while health teams continue searching for and monitoring the remaining contacts.
The deceased, a Kenyan citizen living in Congo, fell ill there before traveling by road through Uganda and flying to Nairobi on Oct. 3. He was admitted to Nairobi Hospital and isolated. Laboratory tests then confirmed Bundibugyo virus disease, a rare and severe viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Bundibugyo ebolavirus.
He died days later, prompting authorities to intensify contact tracing and surveillance. Since going on heightened alert, Kenya has screened more than 652,000 travelers and tested 267 suspected samples, while nearly 5,000 health workers have been trained in prevention and case management.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person, or through contaminated materials.
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