Kenya confirms first Ebola case imported from Congo, patient has died

Kenya has recorded its first confirmed Ebola case, ‌a Kenyan citizen who has been living in Democratic Republic of Congo and arrived in Nairobi on Saturday, health minister ‌Aden Duale said.

The patient has since died, and ‌28 contacts have been identified so far including family members and health workers, Duale told a press conference. Congo has been battling its largest-ever ⁠Ebola ​outbreak, caused by ⁠the rare Bundibugyo species.

The outbreak was declared in mid-May but ⁠may have started months earlier and has so far resisted containment ​efforts, with the Central African country recording more than ⁠8,000 cases and over 4,000 deaths. The outbreak earlier spread to Uganda, ⁠which ​reported 20 cases and two deaths, but the World Health Organization declared Uganda free of the disease in ⁠August.

Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected ⁠people, ⁠living or dead. It can cause fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in severe cases, internal and ‌external bleeding.