Kenya confirms four new Ebola cases, including three health workers; total rises to seven

Kenya's Ministry of Health on 17 October confirmed four new cases of Bundibugyo virus disease, a form of Ebola, bringing the country's total to seven, including the first patient, who died.

A statement signed by Director General for Health Patrick Amoth said one of the new cases is a close male relative of the first patient, in quarantine since 6 October. The other three are health workers, two men and a woman aged 29, 35 and 32, who treated the first patient on 3 and 4 October and were quarantined on 9 October.

All four developed fever while in quarantine and tested positive at both the National Virology Reference Laboratory and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). They are receiving supportive care at designated treatment facilities.

The ministry said the four were detected early because they were already in quarantine, which limited the risk of further transmission to their families and the public. It said the risk to the general public "remains low" and that there is no evidence of community transmission. The ministry said there are no restrictions on travel, trade or public gatherings, and urged anyone with fever, unusual tiredness, muscle or joint pain, vomiting or diarrhoea to seek medical care or call its toll-free line, 719. The second and third patients are stable and responding well to treatment.

Of 130 contacts, 128 (98.5 per cent) have been traced and quarantined and the search for the other two continues, the ministry said, as quoted by the Kenyan news site Citizen Digital. Contacts in quarantine are monitored for 21 days, and the ministry warned that more cases could still emerge among them.

The second and third cases, confirmed on 14 and 16 October, were both close relatives of the first patient, an imported case confirmed on 6 October.