Kenya's Ministry of Health on Tuesday confirmed the country's first death from the Ebola virus. The victim was a Kenyan citizen who had traveled from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to Nairobi and passed away in a hospital on Monday evening.
Health officials announced that they have so far identified and are monitoring 28 people who were in close contact with the individual. This measure has been taken to prevent further spread of the virus in the Kenyan capital.
Aden Duale, Kenya's Health Minister, said in a press conference that the patient, after being ill for about a month, had traveled overland to Kampala, the capital of Uganda, and then flew to Nairobi on a domestic flight on Saturday. According to him, the patient had passed through health screening procedures at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Patrick Amoth, a senior official at the Ministry of Health, explained that it is likely the medication the patient was taking had masked symptoms such as fever during the airport screening. The patient's family took him to a Nairobi hospital after his condition worsened.
The Ministry of Health stated that the deceased's body will be buried in accordance with special protocols for the safe burial of Ebola victims to prevent any risk of transmission. The ministry emphasized that it has maintained a high level of health alert since the Ebola outeak began in eastern DRC in May.
The current Ebola outeak in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has infected over 8,000 people and resulted in more than 4,000 deaths. Ebola is a highly contagious and deadly viral disease transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.
Source: Zarin TV
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