Kenya has confirmed an eighth case in its ongoing Ebola disease outbreak after one of 38 people tested returned a positive result, the country’s Director-General for Health, Patrick Amoth, has said....
Kenya has confirmed an eighth case in its ongoing Ebola disease outbreak after one of 38 people tested returned a positive result, the country’s Director-General for Health, Patrick Amoth, has said.
Amoth disclosed this on Sunday in Nairobi, identifying the latest patient as a 49-year-old man who was accompanying a patient at a healthcare facility.
He said the man developed symptoms including fever, headache and muscle pain.
“Today, we tested 38 persons; one tested positive. Not a direct healthcare worker, but a patient attendant, a 49-year-old gentleman who developed symptoms of fever or high temperature, headache and muscle pain,” Amoth said.
The health official said the seven previously confirmed patients had received monoclonal antibody treatment and were showing encouraging signs of recovery.
“Those who have received the monoclonal antibodies, I’m glad to say, are responding very, very well. The old mama is doing very well,” he added.
According to Amoth, a 65-year-old female patient had resumed eating independently after her vomiting and diarrhoea stopped, while three staff members at the Nairobi Hospital isolation centre remained stable.
Kenya has also received additional medication from Rwanda to support the outbreak response.
The outbreak was first detected in the country earlier in October after an infected traveller who arrived from the Democratic Republic of the Congo through Uganda died in Nairobi on October 5.
Health authorities have identified 130 contacts linked to the outbreak, with 128 traced and quarantined.
The authorities are continuing surveillance, testing and contact tracing to contain the spread of the disease.