Kenya confirms eighth Ebola case as regional outbreak spreads

NAIROBI, Oct 18 — Kenya has confirmed one more Ebola case, ​bringing the total number of infections in the country to eight, Director-General for Health Patrick Amoth ‌said on Sunday.

"Today, 38 people were tested, and one tested positive ⁠for Ebola," Amoth ​said in an interview on ⁠Kenya's Citizen TV.

"He is a 49-year-old man ‌who is not ‌a healthcare worker. He developed fever, headache and ⁠muscle pain."

Amoth said the ⁠new case was a patient attendant who cleaned utensils and linens, and he was probably exposed to Kenya's first Ebola case, discovered earlier this month, in a man who travelled from Democratic ‌Republic of Congo to Nairobi and ​died at a Nairobi hospital on October 5.

The latest case developed symptoms on Saturday, was separated from other people in quarantine, and was tested for the virus with the result returning positive on Sunday, a health ministry source said.

Kenya has ​been on heightened alert, as a major Ebola ‌outbreak centered in ‌Congo ⁠has spread across borders in the region.

Congo confirmed on Sunday that its outbreak had spread to an eighth province, North Ubangi, underscoring concerns about wider regional ‌transmission.

(Reporting by Humphrey ​Malalo, Silvia Aloisi and Ammu ‌Kannampilly; Writing by ⁠Bate Felix ​and Maxwell Akalaaare Adombila; Editing by Silvia Aloisi and ​Edmund Klamann)

Related topics