Kenya confirmed its first ebola case after a Kenyan citizen who had travelled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo died in Nairobi.

Kenya is the fourth country to record a case linked to the ebola epidemic in eastern Congo, the second largest on record with more than 8,000 cases.

Uganda reported 20 cases and two deaths earlier in the year but was declared ebola-free in August. A doctor who returned to France in June from Congo tested positive but there was no further spread of the virus.

The Kenyan patient, who had lived in Congo for seven years, had been ill for about a month before travelling by road from Congo to Uganda's capital, Kampala, and then flying to Nairobi on Saturday, Kenya's Health Minister Aden Duale told a news conference.

After arriving at Nairobi's international airport, he passed through health screening and was later taken by a relative to Nairobi Hospital. He was admitted with fever, chills and bleeding beneath the skin and was quickly placed in isolation, Duale said.

He died late on Monday.

Eight of his family members and 21 healthcare workers who attended to him have been quarantined and are being monitored, Kenyan President William Ruto's office said.

The patient was buried under protocols designed to prevent further spread of the virus, Ruto's office said.

Health authorities are trying to trace 23 passengers and four crew members who were on his Jambojet flight, Duale said.

The health minister said Kenya had trained nearly 5,000 health workers across the country on prevention and management and the UN's senior ebola coordinator, Julien Harneis, told Reuters he expected a "solid health response" from Kenya to manage the disease.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said in a statement that it was immediately sending a high-level team to Kenya to provide support, adding that the case "underscores the importance of sustained preparedness across the region".

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that the WHO was supporting the Kenyan and Ugandan governments and recommended against any travel restrictions on countries affected by the outbreak.

Nevertheless, the incident raised questions about measures meant to prevent the spread of the virus across borders.

The outbreak in Congo was declared in mid-May but may have started months earlier. Caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain, it has been blamed for more than 4,000 deaths. (Reuters)



Edited by Altis Wong