Kenya quarantines 66 Ebola contacts as Wajir scare tests negative
Kenya now has 66 people in quarantine who may have been exposed to its first Ebola patient, Health Minister Aden Duale said Thursday. A second suspected case in Wajir County tested negative in early lab results. Officials say the count will keep rising as they track down everyone who rode the patient's plane.
Kenya's hunt for people exposed to its first Ebola patient has grown again.
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said Thursday that 66 contacts have been accounted for and are in quarantine at the National Police Service Hospital in Nairobi, Citizen Digital and The Eastleigh Voice reported. The list stood at 57 a day earlier. "The number is increasing," Duale said.
The search now reaches beyond one flight. The airline Jambojet gave officials the names of 23 passengers and four crew who flew with the patient from Kampala to Nairobi. Duale said the government has asked for details of every other flight that plane made between Saturday and Thursday.
A second scare eased the same day. A 20-year-old man was tested at Habaswein Sub-County Hospital in Wajir County after traveling from Congo through Uganda, the same route as the first patient. Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi said early lab results were negative for Ebola, Al Jazeera reported. Duale had earlier dismissed reports of a suspected case there.
The first patient was a Kenyan man who had lived in Congo for seven years. He fell ill about a month ago, crossed into Uganda by road and flew to Nairobi on Oct. 3. He was isolated at Nairobi Hospital and died there. Tests found Bundibugyo virus, a form of Ebola with no approved vaccine. Duale said the man traveled more than 3,000 kilometers before he reached Kenya.
Kenya says it has screened about 652,000 travelers since May and tested 268 samples, with only one positive. Five hospitals have a combined 241 beds set aside for Ebola care. Duale urged other countries not to restrict travel. "Kenya remains safe, open and vigilant," he said.
The outbreak began in Congo in May. It has killed at least 4,205 people out of more than 8,700 reported cases, Al Jazeera reported, making it the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record.
What we know: Kenya has one confirmed case, 66 contacts in quarantine and a negative early test in Wajir.
What we don't: Whether any of the contacts will fall ill in the coming days.
Where outlets agree Citizen Digital and The Eastleigh Voice both report Duale said 66 contacts are quarantined at the National Police Service Hospital in Nairobi and that the number is rising.
Where they differ Citizen Digital reports Duale dismissed reports of a suspected Ebola case in Wajir, while Al Jazeera reports Wajir's governor described the 20-year-old patient as a suspected case whose early test came back negative.