Kenya's Health Ministry confirmed on Sunday an eighth Ebola infection in the country, while authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo said the outbreak there had spread to an eighth province.1,3
Health Ministry Director-General Patrick Amoth told Kenya's Citizen TV that 38 people had been tested that day and one had returned a positive result. The new case comes as Kenya has been on heightened alert over a major Ebola outbreak in central Africa.1,3
"He is a 49-year-old man who is not a healthcare worker," Amoth said. "He developed fever, headache and muscle pain."1,3
Amoth said the patient worked as an attendant who cleaned utensils and linens, and was likely exposed to Kenya's first Ebola case, which was discovered earlier this month. A Ministry of Health source said the man developed symptoms on Saturday, was quarantined and was then tested for the virus.1,3
The ministry had reported four new cases on Saturday. Three of those were health workers who treated the country's first Ebola patient, a man who had travelled from the DRC to Nairobi and died at a Nairobi hospital on October 5. In a post on X, the ministry said the fourth person was related to the deceased patient.1,3
Amoth said patients in quarantine were being tested after developing symptoms, and that the other six patients in Kenya were stable after receiving supportive treatment. The current outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is no vaccine or specific treatment.1,3
In Congo, the Health Ministry said two cases, including one death, had been recorded in Nord-Ubangi province, according to the DW report. Al Jazeera reported that the government announced on Sunday that the virus had reached North Ubangi, the eighth province affected.1,3
The DRC has recorded at least 9,400 cases, including more than 4,500 deaths, in what is the deadliest outbreak in the country's history, which began in May. Ituri province in eastern DRC remains the epicentre, accounting for almost three quarters of confirmed cases, according to the government's most recent data.3
The state-run news agency ACP reported that authorities in North Kivu province, where the World Health Organization said substantial transmission continues, will introduce a one-week ban from Monday on people entering the province from Ituri. Other measures include restrictions on passenger numbers in cars and on motorbikes, and the suspension of large public gatherings.3
Neighbouring Uganda recorded 20 confirmed cases, 15 of them imported from the DRC, along with two deaths, before it was declared Ebola-free in August.3
Kenyan officials said that patients in quarantine would continue to be tested after they developed symptoms, and that the newly confirmed patient was receiving care. Further details on the spread of the virus in Congo's new provinces were not included in the reports.1,3