Kenya has confirmed another Ebola infection, bringing the country’s total number of cases to eight, as authorities remain on high alert over a wider regional outbreak.
Director-General for Health Patrick Amoth said 38 people were tested on Sunday, with one returning a positive result.
The latest patient is a 49-year-old man who is not a healthcare worker and developed a fever, headache and muscle pain, Amoth told Citizen TV.
He was a patient attendant responsible for cleaning utensils and linens and was believed to have been exposed to Kenya’s first Ebola patient, who was identified earlier this month.
The initial patient had travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to Nairobi and died at a hospital in the Kenyan capital on October 5.
A Health Ministry source said the latest patient developed symptoms on Saturday and was isolated from others in quarantine. His test result came back positive on Sunday.
Kenya has heightened its disease surveillance as a major Ebola outbreak centred in the DRC spreads across the region.
The DRC confirmed on Sunday that the outbreak had reached its eighth province, North Ubangi, raising concerns about further cross-border transmission.
