The Director-General of Health, Dr. Patrick Amoth, announced on Sunday the confirmation of the eighth Ebola case in Kenya.
Among 38 people tested on Sunday, a 49-year-old patient who worked as an assistant at Nairobi Hospital tested positive for the virus. Health specialists clarified that this man is not a direct healthcare worker, but his duties included washing dishes and linen, which likely led to infection from the initial case in Kenya.
The initial case was linked to a man who arrived from the Democratic Republic of Congo and died in Nairobi on October 5. Dr. Amoth told Citizen TV that the patient developed symptoms including fever, headache, and muscle aches.
The patient, who was in quarantine, was immediately isolated after showing signs of illness on Saturday, before his test results confirmed the positive diagnosis the following day.
Kenya maintains a high level of preparedness due to the ongoing expansion of the regional outbreak. Furthermore, on Sunday, Congolese authorities confirmed that the virus has spread to the eighth province, North Ubangi, raising additional concern about cross-border transmission.