A woman died from Ebola in Kenya, the second death from the virus in the country, according to local authorities.
The Ministry of Health said, in a statement published on Friday evening, that the 65-year-old woman was a relative of the first person infected with the virus in the country.
The ministry added that the patient, who died on Friday evening, had been subject to quarantine and receiving treatment since mid-October, after symptoms of infection with the virus appeared on her.
According to the Ministry, 7 people are currently receiving treatment for the Ebola virus in isolation, noting that there are currently no indications of the virus spreading among more residents.
Kenya recorded its first case of Ebola on October 6, after a man was infected with the virus in neighboring Congo, which is facing one of the worst Ebola outbreaks ever recorded.
The man returned to Kenya; Where he died in a hospital.
The outbreak of the virus was detected in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in May, and since then more than 9,700 cases have been recorded.
More than 4,700 people died after being infected with the virus.
The African Center for Disease Control and Prevention described the virus outbreak as the fastest growing in history.
The Director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced yesterday, Friday, the start of the first clinical trial of a vaccine against the Ebola virus to confront the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Ghebreyesus said on the “X” platform: “Science gives us hope.” Today, in Bunia, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the first participants received a vaccine in a new trial against Ebola called “Tumaini,” which means “hope” in the Swahili language.
This outbreak is considered the worst in the history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as the number of infections exceeded 9,700 cases, while the number of deaths exceeded 4,600.
The trial began by administering the first dose of the “Ervibo” vaccine in the city of Bunia, the capital of Ituri Province in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is the epicenter of the outbreak.
“This trial will help us understand whether any of the candidate vaccines designed to combat the Bundibugyo virus are effective,” Ghebreyesus added, adding that the currently existing “Ervibo” vaccine will also be tested in parallel.
The “Ervibo” vaccine, approved for use against the more widespread Zaire strain of the Ebola virus, will undergo a large-scale clinical trial in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to see if it provides cross-protection against the “Bundebugyo” strain.
There are no approved vaccines or treatments against the “Bundebugyo” strain of the “Ebola” virus, which is the strain causing the current epidemic.
“Tomini” is a unified experimental framework that allows testing the safety, effectiveness, and ability of several vaccines to stimulate the immune response.
The trial will adopt the “ring vaccination” approach, which is based on vaccinating contacts who are considered most at risk of infection.
The trial will include pregnant women and children aged 12 years and above.
Preparations are also being made to include two vaccines specifically for the “Bundebugyo” strain, which are currently undergoing more limited clinical trials in the early stages.
One of these two vaccines is being developed at Oxford University, while the other is being developed by the American “Moderna” group and uses messenger DNA technology.
A multi-storey building under construction collapsed in the Kenyan capital on Friday, the Red Cross announced, while local media reported injuries and looting at the site of the incident.
Clips circulated on the Internet showed the moment the building collapsed, with thick clouds of dust rising as it fell. The building is located in the densely populated Eastleigh area, which includes commercial establishments and residential buildings, and is believed to have consisted of about 18 floors.
Journalists observed the building turning into a pile of rubble, while small numbers of search and rescue teams arrived at the scene.
Abdi Aziz, a 25-year-old resident of the area, said: “There were some shops in the basement, and the workers were busy with construction work.”
He added: “But because the incident coincided with Friday prayers, many of them were in the mosque. I think the number of deaths is small; “No one lived in the building.”
Local media reported looting, and suggested that there were people trapped under the rubble. Some photos also showed large crowds gathered in the vicinity of the incident that occurred at noon. The police used tear gas to disperse the crowds. Rescue operations had not yet begun when reporters arrived.
Nairobi is witnessing a rapid urban boom, with high-rise buildings spreading across the city, especially in the Eastleigh neighborhood, known for its crowded markets and being a center for the Somali community. There are many concerns about building safety standards.
According to a report issued by the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis, the period between 2009 and 2019 witnessed the collapse of 86 buildings. Which resulted in the death of about 200 people.
