In brief
Kenya’s second Ebola death, a 65‑year‑old woman related to the first victim, has shocked the nation as the country enters its first outbreak. Seven patients remain treated in two isolation units, all part of the same cluster with no community spread. Authorities have ramped up border screening and digital tracking of travellers from high‑risk countries. While the US warns against travel, neighbouring states are also on alert amid concerns about cross‑border spread.
A 65‑year‑old woman, a close relative of Kenya’s first Ebola victim, has died in a quarantine facility, the country’s health ministry confirmed, marking the second fatal case in its first outbreak.
The cluster, linked to an infection that originated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, involved seven patients currently under treatment in two isolation units, all of whom belong to the same household or were health‑care workers, the ministry said.
The first death occurred on 5 October when a man who had travelled from Congo fell ill in Nairobi after months of hospitalisation in both the DRC and Kenya, only to succumb a few days later.
Kenya has intensified border checks – especially for travellers from nine high‑risk countries – and introduced digital surveillance forms, QR‑code screening and enhanced aircraft screening to prevent further imported cases.
The United States has warned its citizens against traveling to Kenya, while Uganda and other neighbouring states have put their own alert systems in place amid growing concern over cross‑border spread.
