The patient, a 39-year-old man, is a relative of Kenya’s first case – related to the ongoing deadly outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – who died in hospital on 5 October.
He was among contacts who were placed in quarantine and developed symptoms on 13 October.
‘We all have a role to play’
“I congratulate the Government for taking this important step to ensure that contacts are listed and quarantined,” WHO Representative Dr. Neema Rusibamayila Kimambo told UN News in Nairobi, a day after the Ministry of Health confirmed the new case.
“But to defeat this disease, it’s not about the Government, it is not about partners It is about everybody,” she insisted. “We all have a role to play and if each one of us plays our part, then we should be able to contain the disease and stop community spread.”
Casting a wide net
Kenya’s first Ebola patient and fatality was a local man who had been living in the DRC, where the record outbreak continues to spread in the east.
He arrived in Nairobi via Uganda on 3 October and died in hospital two days later.
Dr. Kimambo commended health authorities who “cast the net very wide” to identify people who had come into contact with him – whether in the air or on the ground.
The more than 40 people included airline passengers and crew, airplane cleaners, airport workers, baggage handlers and immigration officials, as well as health personnel and family members.
Most are in quarantine, while a few low-risk contacts have self-quarantined and are being monitored. Meanwhile, every effort is being made to reach six passengers who have been difficult to locate because they have foreign phone numbers.
Stepping up preparedness
Even before the first case , WHO and the Kenyan Government were stepping up Ebola preparedness after the outbreak was declared in the DRC in May. Neighbouring Uganda also confronted the disease, with any outbreak officially ruled out in late August.
Teams are working across all areas, including surveillance and contact tracing. WHO has also brought in a senior incident manager who participated in the Ebola response in Uganda, as well as other experts.
“We are building on the work that we started during the preparedness phase, so case management and IPC (infection prevention and control) are critical at this time in the quarantine centres,” Dr. Kimambo said.
WHO also continues to provide assistance to Kenya in various other ways. The UN agency has donated some $70,000 worth of supplies, including IPC and laboratory items, since the first Ebola case was identified.
Additionally, more than 4,000 health workers have been trained, including for screenings at ports of entry.
Keep borders open
While Dr. Kimambo said there still is no need to impose travel restrictions or close national borders, she underlined the importance of appropriate screening to identify travellers who may pose a health risk.
Preventing Ebola begins with understanding how the disease is transmitted, she said, which is through contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.
She reiterated the advice to practice regular handwashing, use hand sanitizer and avoid shaking hands.
As Ebola symptoms include fever, vomiting and diarrhoea – which mimic symptoms of malaria and other diseases – she stressed the need to seek medical care quickly. In the interim, Kenyans are urged to keep calm and stay safe.
“I think one is not to over panic and be very fearful because we do not have community spread,” she said. “But two, let us be responsible. Whoever is sick, let’s make sure we go to a health facility and get care. And also, let us ensure that we take IPC measures.”
