Ebola: Kenya announces second death

Kenya has recorded a second Ebola death, the Health Ministry said on Friday.

Officials identified the patient as a 65-year-old woman, a close relative of a Kenyan man who died of Ebola earlier this month.

The woman began showing symptoms 10 days ago while in quarantine. She began receiving supportive care at an infectious disease unit in the capital, Nairobi.

"Sadly, she succumbed to ⁠the ​disease early ​this evening," the ministry said.

Medical personnel "did everything possible to save her life," the ministry said, adding that it had notified her family and would arrange a safe and dignified burial in consultation with relatives.

Seven people continue to receive treatment for the illness in Kenya.

What else do we know about the 2nd Kenyan Ebola death?

Kenya's first Ebola case was announced on October 6. The virus was found in a 40-year-old Kenyan man living in Congo, who travelled to Kenya via Uganda, arriving on October 3.

He tested positive for the disease on October 5 and died on the same day.

Of some 135 who were identified as contacts with the patient, 118 were placed in quarantine, with eight testing positive. They included four health workers and four close family members.

The remaining seven cases are all within "one cluster, with no evidence of community spread", the ministry added.

Nigeria's 1st Ebola case resembles the Kenyan strand

Meanwhile, genomic tests announced by Nigeria's Health Minister have revealed that the Ebola virus found in Kenya's patient zero resembles that found in Nigeria's first case, which was announced earlier this week.

Nigerian health officials detected the infection in the wife of a staff member at Switzerland's embassy in Abuja. She had returned from Uganda on October 3.

On Friday, the Swiss Foreign Ministry denied Ugandan government reports saying the patient had visited the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of a major Ebola outbreak.

African health authorities are trying to trace the source of the infection. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention had suggested she may have come into contact with Kenya's first patient at the airport. The two flew from Uganda on the same day.

Nigerian Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate said "the viruses are appearing to be related," and the case "is highly similar to that from Kenya."

The current outbreak flared in the DRC in May, and has since spread to Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria.

The deadly Bundibugyo species has no approved vaccine or specific treatment.

To date, infections have surpassed 9,700 confirmed cases, including 4,690 deaths, as per World Health Organization figures as of October 20.