The number of Ebola cases increased to 8 in Kenya

Patrick Amoth, Director General of the Kenyan Ministry of Health, made statements regarding the Ebola cases in the country.

Stating that the number of people detected with Ebola virus has increased to 8, Amoth said that there is no evidence yet that the virus has spread widely and that measures have been increased to prevent the spread.

Amoth shared that the 8th case was a 49-year-old caregiver who accompanied the patient who was recorded as the first Ebola case.

Stating that the first patient died in the hospital in the capital Nairobi on October 5, two days after arriving in Kenya from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) via Uganda, Amoth stated that people in quarantine were tested after they showed symptoms.

Amoth noted that the other 6 people with the virus were receiving supportive treatment and their health conditions were stable, adding that 3 of the 8 people with the virus were close relatives of the first patient and 3 were healthcare workers.

First Ebola case in Kenya

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa, the Kenyan patient living in the DRC traveled by land to Kampala, the capital of Uganda, and then to Nairobi by plane.

The patient, who was isolated in Nairobi after showing symptoms of the disease, was found to carry the Bundibugyo type of Ebola virus in tests carried out at the Kenya National Virology Reference Laboratory and the Kenya Medical Research Institute.

The patient, who received supportive treatment, died on the night of October 5.

The patient's body was buried at Lang'ata Cemetery in the capital Nairobi on October 6, under special health measures to prevent the transmission of the virus.

Following DRC, Uganda and France, Kenya has become the fourth country to report cases linked to the current Bundibugyo virus outbreak.

Ebola virus can be spread through direct contact with the blood or other body fluids of infected people, as well as through contaminated materials.