Kenya launches contact tracing of over 50 people after first Ebola patient dies in Nairobi

Kenya has begun tracing and monitoring people who came into contact with the country’s first confirmed Ebola patient after the Kenyan national died at a Nairobi hospital.

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale in a press conference on Tuesday, October 6, confirmed that the patient, a Kenyan citizen who had lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for seven years, died at about 11.30pm on Monday, hours after Kenya confirmed the first imported case of Ebola.

According to CS Duale, authorities have identified 28 contacts, including family members and healthcare workers, who are being followed as part of the response.

A further 23 passengers and four crew members who were on the same flight as the deceased are also being pursued.

"So far, we have listed 28 contacts of the deceased, including family members and healthcare workers who attended to the deceased. We are also pursuing a further 23 passengers and four crew members who were on the same flight as the deceased."

The CS said that the patient had been receiving supportive treatment after being isolated at Nairobi Hospital, where he was taken shortly after arriving in the country.

“The patient was given supportive treatment but regrettably passed on last night at around 11.30,” Duale said.

He added that preparations were underway for a safe and dignified burial in line with Ebola public health protocols.

According to the Health Ministry briefing, the patient had fallen ill about a month earlier while in the DRC and had been treated at several hospitals there before travelling to Kenya.

CS Duale revealed that the patient travelled by road from the DRC to Kampala, Uganda, before boarding Jambojet flight 8523 to Nairobi.

He arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on Saturday at about 1.10pm, where he underwent routine screening by Port Health officials.

After clearing immigration, he was transported directly from JKIA by a relative and a friend to Nairobi Hospital.

The patient was initially isolated in a separate room in the hospital's Accident and Emergency area before being transferred to the East Wing Isolation Facility, according to Duale's briefing.

The Health CS said the facility was established during the Covid-19 pandemic and has isolation infrastructure, including intensive care and high-dependency facilities, as well as more than 145 beds.

“He presented while at the East Wing Isolation Facility. He presented with fever, chills, intense fatigue, weakness, muscle pain, painful swallowing, sore throat, and bleeding under the skin at the injection sites,” Duale added.

Given the symptoms and his travel history from the DRC, doctors suspected a viral haemorrhagic fever and collected samples for testing.

According to the Health Ministry briefing, the samples subsequently tested positive for Ebola, specifically the Bundibugyo virus disease.

Duale said the tests were conducted at both the National Virology Reference Laboratory, operated by the National Public Health Institute, and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) laboratory.

The identification of 28 contacts marks the immediate containment phase following confirmation of the imported case.

Earlier, Reuters reported that those being monitored include members of the patient's family and healthcare workers who may have been exposed.

Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person, including after death.

People who are infected generally become contagious after developing symptoms.

Kenya's response now depends heavily on identifying people who may have had close contact with the patient, monitoring them for symptoms and isolating and testing anyone who develops signs consistent with Ebola.

The development follows months of government preparedness after Ebola outbreaks in the region raised concern over possible cross-border transmission.

In June, the Ministry said it had activated the National Ebola Incident Management System, while strengthening surveillance at airports and land borders, laboratory testing, rapid response teams and isolation facilities.

More than 71,000 travellers had been screened by early June, according to the ministry.

By July, the government said it had designated 22 Ebola isolation units and received a five-tonne consignment of personal protective equipment, rapid diagnostic kits, infrared thermometers and other supplies from India.

Earlier this year, a proposed Ebola quarantine facility in Kenya became one of the most contentious public-health projects after the government entered into an arrangement with the United States to establish a quarantine and isolation centre for people exposed to Ebola.

The facility was planned as a 50-bed centre at Laikipia Air Base near Nanyuki.

At the time, the government had argued that it formed part of wider national preparedness and that similar isolation capacity was being planned elsewhere in the country.

The project subsequently became the subject of a court challenge by Katiba Institute and other parties, with the High Court issuing conservatory orders in May barring establishment or operationalisation of an Ebola facility under the disputed arrangement pending further proceedings.

The dispute escalated in June when the court found that construction at Laikipia had continued despite its orders.

CS Duale was subsequently required to appear before the court for mitigation, and the Ministry later said construction and site activities had been halted in compliance with the orders.

The Laikipia case had also raised questions about public participation, disclosure of the Kenya-US arrangements and the role of national and county governments in establishing the facility.

The confirmed Ebola case in Kenya originated in the DRC, where the current outbreak has been driven by the Bundibugyo strain.

According to Reuters, the DRC outbreak has grown to more than 8,000 cases and over 4,000 deaths, making it the country's largest Ebola outbreak on record.