Kenya’s first Ebola death has triggered a race to trace everyone the victim came into contact with, as the United Nations and partners provide full support, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) top official in the country has told UN News in her first interview on the case.
Speaking in Nairobi on Wednesday, WHO Representative Dr. Neema Rusibamayila Kimambo said the coming days would be decisive in preventing community spread of the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, which has now claimed its first life in Kenya.
The victim, a local man who had lived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for several years, fell ill there, where a deadly outbreak continues to spread in the east.
He flew to Nairobi via Kampala and Entebbe in Uganda on 3 October, went straight to hospital and died in the Kenyan capital on Monday.
Authorities have since identified the people who had come in direct contact with him from social contact and his admission to hospital. So far, there have been no other infections.
“This is an outbreak of an imported case, one who came in and went straight to hospital, but the Government is working to identify all the relevant contacts as part of their response to this outbreak,” Dr Kimambo told UN News.
by UN News – Kenya races to trace all contacts after first Ebola death, WHO official says
