8th Ebola confirmed in Kenya... Spread to the 8th province along the Democratic Congo Line

The spread of Ebola is not slowing down in Central and Eastern Africa.

In Kenya, where the first confirmed case occurred early this month, the total number of confirmed cases increased to eight in two weeks, and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the epicenter, an infected person was confirmed in the eighth province where there had been no confirmed cases so far.

According to Reuters on the 19th (local time), Patrick Amos, Director-General of Kenya's Ministry of Health, said in a local TV interview the night before that an additional 49-year-old man tested positive for Ebola, bringing the total number of confirmed Ebola cases in the country to eight.

It is presumed that the new confirmed patient was highly likely to have been exposed to the virus as he worked as a patient assistant at the hospital where Kenya's first confirmed Ebola patient, who died on the 5th, was admitted, and was responsible for handling laundry such as medical equipment and bedding.

He was quarantined on the 9th and tested positive for Ebola after showing symptoms such as fever, headache, and muscle pain.

In Kenya, the first confirmed case of Ebola, who returned from Democratic Congo via Uganda, died on the 5th, and 128 of the 130 people, including family members, relatives, and medical staff who came into contact with him, have been identified and are being quarantined. So far, 7 additional contacts have been confirmed, including 3 family members and relatives, 3 medical staff, and 1 hospital support staff, and there have been no deaths other than the first confirmed case.

In the Democratic Congo, the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Congo announced the previous day that two people were confirmed in Northern Ubangui Province, where there had been no confirmed cases until now, and one of them died.

These confirmed patients were all men in their 20s and reportedly lived in the Wapinda Health Administrative Area in Northern Ubangui Province, adjacent to Bauele Province, which was previously classified as an Ebola outbreak area.

EFE news agency reported that in Democratic Congo, since the Ebola outbreak was declared on May 15, the cumulative number of Ebola confirmed cases was 9,415 as of the 16th of this month.

Of these, 4,536 people died, resulting in a fatality rate of 48.2%.