NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 24 – A 65-year-old woman who died after contracting the Bundibugyo Ebola virus has been buried under strict infection-prevention measures, with health authorities seeking to respect Muslim burial traditions while protecting mourners and the wider public.
The woman, who was a close relative of Kenya’s first confirmed Ebola patient, died on Friday while receiving treatment at an infectious disease unit in Nairobi.
She was Kenya’s third confirmed case of Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease and the country’s second Ebola-related death.
The Ministry of Health said the woman had been under quarantine as a close contact of the first patient when she developed symptoms on October 13. She was admitted to an infectious disease unit the same day and received supportive care before her condition deteriorated.
Health officials said medical teams made efforts to save her life but she succumbed to the disease.
Her burial was conducted under public health protocols designed to minimise the risk of transmission from the body while accommodating the family’s religious and cultural needs.
Ebola poses a risk of transmission through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person, including someone who has died from the disease. This makes the safe handling and burial of bodies a critical part of outbreak control.
Health authorities require trained burial teams to handle the body using appropriate protective equipment and infection-prevention procedures. Family members and mourners must avoid direct contact with the body.
The safe and dignified burial approach seeks to balance public health requirements with the need to treat the deceased with dignity and respect the family’s beliefs.
For Muslim families, this requires coordination between health officials and relatives to accommodate religious practices where they can be carried out safely.
The Ministry of Health has urged Kenyans not to touch or handle the bodies of people who have died from suspected or confirmed Ebola, warning that doing so could expose others to infection.
The woman’s death brought Kenya’s Ebola fatalities to two among nine confirmed cases reported by the Ministry of Health at the time of the announcement.
The first patient, a Kenyan man who had been living in the Democratic Republic of Congo, died earlier in October after arriving in Nairobi via Uganda.
Health authorities said the confirmed cases remained within a cluster of known contacts, with no evidence of community transmission reported in the Ministry’s update.
The remaining seven confirmed patients were receiving treatment at two isolation facilities as surveillance and contact-tracing efforts continued.
The Ministry has urged members of the public to remain calm, follow official health advisories and seek medical attention promptly if they develop symptoms consistent with Ebola, particularly if they may have been exposed to a confirmed case.
Symptoms can include fever, weakness, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and unexplained bleeding.
Members of the public can call the Ministry of Health’s toll-free hotline 719 for information and guidance.
Health authorities continue to emphasise that early reporting, isolation of suspected cases, contact tracing and strict infection-prevention measures are essential to containing the outbreak.